Gaming With Your Mood

Fans of popular anime might remember a series called, Angelic Layer, which basically depicted players who could control characters in a combat game with the power of their mind. While technology may not quite be that advanced yet, researchers are taking an in-depth look at how mood could control gameplay in the World of Warcraft.

In the Human Media Interaction department of Professor Anton Nijholtthe Centre for Telematics and Information Technology Research Institute, a study is being conducted using Brain-Computer Interfaces to measure both player moods and prompted movement using an application built specifically for World of Warcraft. For example, as soon as a player feels they are in danger, the character will shift into bear form to protect their vulnerability. Once the player has relaxed, they return to the regular character form. While this may not seem like a huge feat for anyone who has played the game, the ability to process those actions through nothing other than brain signals is quite astounding.

What would the future of games be like (especially WoW) if we no longer had the need to use our mouse and keyboard? Would this remove some of the challenges that non-twitch, keyboard turn, and click players face? Would this make gaming “too easy”? Leave your comments below and tell us what you think!