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Necomimi Shows Off Mind-controlled Headphones

By - Source: Engadget

Shuffle will never be the same again.

Back in January, at CES 2013 in Las Vegas, Necomimi created quite the buzz with its mind-controlled cat ears. Using the NeuroSky MindWave Mobile EEG headset, the accessory reads and sends your brainwaves to your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth. The app converts your brain activity into movements for the ears. It was a cute idea and the technology was pretty amazing. However, we'll be the first to admit wiggly cat ears aren't exactly useful. Mind-controlled headphones on the other hand? Pretty awesome.

Similar to the cat ears, the Mico connects to your phone or tablet via Bluetooth and has a sensor that sits on your forehead. The sensor picks up on your brainwaves and sends it to your device for translation. According to Engadget, the Mico will then select a song from the company's app based on the kind of mood your in.

Though the idea is a great one, it seems to be early days for Mico just yet. However, Engadget cites the company as saying the headphones were coming in "the near future," so perhaps mood-ring style headphones aren't all that far off.

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There are 17 Comments.
Other Comments
  • 4
    Vorador2 , March 16, 2013 7:33 PM
    Instead of "detecting your mood" and selecting the song based on it, why not develop a system for something much more practical: detecting if you want to stop, play, skip forwards or backwards...

    It might be far harder, but if something like that appeared, i would buy it. As it stands, those headsets are nearly worthless.
  • 3
    mouse24 , March 16, 2013 11:50 PM
    Am I the only one that wants those cat ears more than the headset? I have headsets and I can easily hit play/stop/etc, what I DON'T HAVE IS AMAZING FRIGGIN CAT EARS THAT WIGGLE ON THERE OWN.
  • 3
    mikenygmail , March 16, 2013 3:19 PM
    "According to Engadget, the Mico will then select a song from the company's app based on the kind of mood your in."

    Based on "the kind of mood your in," eh? The author has no business writing any articles at all.
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