Get Your Thinking Caps on Boys and Girls and …JERK OFF

Emotive Systems is causing quite a buzz at a recent computer gaming conference with its brain-reading headset to control interactive computer games. I’m actually jazzed about this—not from the standpoint of being able to play computer games, but of its potential in controlling sex and kink toys.

Emotive announced its concept in March 2007. Since then they did some development testing in Australia, and launched their consumer product in February 2008.

While they’re actual process is still proprietary, Emotive alludes to being able to read and interpret the wearer’s brain wave activity using Electro Encephalography (EEG) techniques. This is doubted by some citing that the signal strength of brain wave activity at the scalp surface can be swamped out by more prominent facial muscle nerve signals that are up to 15 times more powerful. Nonetheless, whether the headset is reading EEG’s or eyelid twitching, the wearer can eventually use either to control devices: game consoles or pussy shockers.

People have been exploring the use of EEG’s for controls for a long time. Certainly applications for aiding the handicapped is one of the noteworthy goals. Apart from the muscle signal overwhelm problem, there’s the massive problem of “just what do the EEG signals mean?”

Consider this: there are approximately 10^10th (i.e., 1 followed by lots of zeros) nerve cells in the brain. And their connections are truly complex. The brain isn’t just a big switchboard. There are subtle layers, interactions, and timings involved in processing perceptions, controlling movements, and forming thoughts. And even after 200 years of research, we’re just barely beginning to decipher what’s all involved. The EEG you get from the doctor is like trying to determine what’s going on inside a telephone exchange by standing outside holding a compass. Yes, you can get general trends, but it’s hard to find out what’s happening at a few critical neurons …if indeed thoughts and actions result from a few critical neurons.

Let me interject now a personal note. My interest in EEG’s started when the doctors gave me one when I was a kid. (They were checking to see if I had a brain tumor, which, fortunately, I didn’t have.) Since then, anything connected with the brain fascinated me: neurophysiology, cognitive science, EEG’s, etc.. I even built my own EEG as a high school science fair project.

All of this science and personal content aside, imagine what such a device can be used for …kink-wise that is. At the under $300 price tag for the headset and interface, it’s within the realm of an experimenter. We can only imagine the possibilities…

1. Controlling various toys for use on a partner—TENS units, vibrators, (and for the really ambitious and affluent) a robotic flogger/caner/single-tailer—all with the power of thought …or maybe an eye-twitch.




2. As a corollary of the above, this would be an ideal way for a handicapped top to get more enjoyment out of a scene.



3. As a second corollary, control multiple scenes with …”the power of thought”.



4. As another corollary, because we’re dealing with electronic interfaces they can be combined with computers for long-distance teledildonics over the internet. …and this can include or be included in the “multiples” corollary above.



5. Using it for masturbation purposes (after all, there are a lot of solo e-players out there). Rather than depending on pre-programmed e-stim, more variation in stimulations can be achieved through use of the headset. And these variations can be a function of your individual and spontaneous “heat (so to speak) of the moment” thoughts, actions, and feelings. And for you guys a modified Venus 2000 could also be controlled this way.

And the list can go on…

With all the possibilities of what it can do, however, can it be done safely? After all, you’re depending on layers of electronics between you and your partner (or between you and your genitals if you’re into the masturbation aspects of this) to do what you want it to and not to inflict bad pain or harm. At this point, I suggest you check out my paper, Computers in BDSM. Even something as simple as a “kill switch” can mean the difference between a fun time with a thought-controlled butt plug vs. getting your hemorrhoids painfully cauterized.

While that image bounces around in your mind, let me ask, “Given that it could be done safely, what kind of applications would you like to see using the brain-reading headset?” Put on your thinking caps boys and girls…

Cao-4-Now
Unc’

Blame Mr. Wizard

It all began in a small, 5,000 watt station in… Sorry! Wrong “It all started…” speech!

Having done (and still doing BTW) a bit of the BDSM ‘Rubber Chicken Circuit’, perhaps I should tell a bit of from where I got my interest in science and technology and perhaps a bit of my presenting style.

Having ‘been around a while’ (and no snide remarks about Dino E-Play), most of you in counting back will realize that I actually was as a kid living in the tail-end of the radio era and the beginnings of the early television era, i.e., the 1950’s. Of particular interest to me was the Saturday radio kid shows and in 1953, when my family got its first television, the educational shows. Understand that for television this was before MTV, Bevis and Butthead, and the other ‘inspiring’(?) and ‘morally uplifting’(HAH!) shows of today. The TV industry was still trying to carve its cultural niche in society by saying it was an ‘educational force for good’. As a result there were shows like "Uncle Ned’s Flying Squadron” and “Dr. Daniel Q. Posen” teaching aviation and physics. Even the adventure stories like "Atom Squad” and "Captain Video” had ‘embedded’ lessons on atomic energy and space travel. All were the hot science topics of the day. Then there was Don Herbert (1917 – 2007).

Launching in 1951 Mr. Herbert had an extremely popular television show called “Mr. Wizard’s Science Secrets”. Its sponsor was The Cereal Institute which emphasized “…eat a hearty breakfast of fruit, cereal, milk, bread, and butter.”

Though coming from a theater and radio production background, he did get some practical technical training as a B-24 bomber pilot during WWII (check out Mr. Wizard Studios website). Nonetheless, every Saturday his program covered some physical science topic. One week it might be on electricity; another it’d be on combustion chemistry. The thing is that all the topics were presented in an easy-to-understand style with demonstrations and experiments that were drawn from everyday items: spark plugs, a doorbell, flour, kitchen cookware, etc. This was no school lecture hall with educational institution glassware and apparatus. It was science that a kid could sink his(er) teeth into. And it inspired the kids to do their own DIY experimentation—seeing as the setup and equipment wasn’t complex at all. And it certainly wasn’t like many a science teacher that presented the subject in a manner less interesting than pocket lint.

“Mr. Wizard” was my most favorite show. I watched it religiously every Saturday till I went to High School, and it gave me a way of understanding …really understanding… science that I still use today. Yes, there were other shows too—the space exploration lectures given by Dr. Wernher vonBraun on the Walt Disney show being a notable one, but Mr. Wizard imprinted me forever.

You’ll notice that in my lectures (unless you’re only there for the NGGE; see below) and my published experiments that I try (in my own—perhaps feeble—way) to carry on Mr. Wizard’s tradition. It was indeed sad for me to learn of his death in 2007—having almost reached his 90th birthday.

Thank you Mr. Wizard.

Cao-4-Now

Unc’

What would you want in a sex doll?

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People who kill E-Toys

This is prompted by actually running across such a person. I originally thought such folk were urban legends, but apparently there are people who in receiveing E-play actually either destroy or at least incapacitate the E-play toy used on them. And apparently some of them also have non-contact adverse effects on electric household appliances such as light bulbs, or electric clocks and watches.

Such people are fortunately extremely rare. In the 100 or so people I've personally done E-play with, I've only run across one. And when you factor in the nearly 1000 E-players I know, there's still only one ...that I know of. Thus the reason for this post.

What I'd like to hear from everyone is if you know of any such people from your personal experience or that of a trusted friend. If you can let me know of some of the details that you witnessed or experienced without giving actual names or incriminating details of course. The reason I'm asking is to try to get a rough handle on at least the number that may exist. Also I can start accumulating a catalog of observed effects. This would be helpful in a study on this subject. Once a rough number and/or a rough catalog of effects starts evolving which, in turn, helps suggest a more developed study(ies).

Please don't get me wrong. Certainly--like the person that sparked this post--are really nice folk. They are not maliciously or purposely trying to defeat E-Play. And certainly E-Play is not the only joy in my toy bag. Impact play is also one of my favorites, so if E-play won't work with a partner, then out comes the floggers and canes. There's always more than one way to have a good scene. And I'm not looking for ginny-pigs for experiments either. The field is too immature at present to suggest any meaningful experiment designs.

So I'd like to hear from others about this. This will help make E-Play better for everyone.

Cao-4-Now

Unc'