In the News

The system is currently being used to help kids with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and has been adopted as a virtual reality training tool in nuclear power plants. (Read more)

A dolphin slowly descended to the sea floor. It swam past brightly hued aquatic plants and animals.The dolphin’s goal was to collect as many gold coins as possible. The catalyst was Mary Lou Gould’s laser focus on a dolphin icon. With a BodyWave, an iPod-size EEG sensor strapped to her arm, Gould’s concentration, or lack of, was tracked on a laptop. “The first time I came in, I had no idea what it would be like,” Gould said. “It’s amazing. It almost seems like magic. Any of the games will not...

Twelve-year-old Nikolas Hufen can control computer games with his mind.  Without touching the mouse or keyboard, Nikolas last Wednesday started a computer game and got objects on the screen to light up.  Nikolas, of Racine, was able to do so because of a portable EEG device strapped to his arm and connected to the computer by Bluetooth. The EEG measured Nikolas’s brain waves and when they showed focus and concentration, the game became active. In some cases his brain waves actually...

Its most commonplace use, however, is BodyWave’s ability to help children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Freer formed a company called Play Attention to put this technology to work, designing games and activities that help children see when they’re focusing and when they are not — the games literally will not work unless they put their minds to it. It also is geared toward adults who wants to participate in ‘brain training’ games to assist with concentration and even...

The technology is the brainchild of Peter Freer, a North Carolina elementary-school teacher frustrated by stymied efforts to help students with ADD. It took 11 years and three jobs for him to scrape together enough cash to create a prototype for an educational program called PlayAttention. Mr. Freer was testing the technology on the U.S. bobsled team, with the same focus-boosting aim, when Mr. Templeton cold-called him. Could Mr. Freer whip up something like that for nuclear-plant operators?...