Hacking the Jedi Force Trainer
My eight year old son got a Jedi Force Trainer for Christmas. Here is the marketing literature:
May the Force be with you. The Force Trainer by Uncle Milton actually allows you to control a Jedi Training Remote with your mind, by tapping into cutting-edge brainwave technology. Utilizing dry EEG sensor technology, the headset reads and interprets your brainwaves. The deeper your concentration and mental focus, the greater your ability to move the Training Remote up or down the Training Tower. Progress from Padawan to Jedi Master as you master the use of “The Force” through 15 levels of training. Increasingly challenging sequences are aided by training cues and instruction from the master of all Jedi Masters himself, Yoda. Additional STAR WARS sound effects confirm accomplishment and provide encouragement throughout your training. Advancement and current level of your training is displayed on the Training Tower control panel.
The other day we got it out for the first time. First of all, it is a battery hog. 6 AA’s and 3 AAA’s are required. The headset is a little difficult to fit to get the sensors on skin and not hair (except for me). The first level just kinda happens. We haven’t really figured out to get beyond the second or third level. There appears to be little or no correlation to “state of mind” or brain waves. It seems to be entirely random…but it might too early to cast that harsh of a judgment. If you have a child that loves Star Wars and has some ADD tendencies…it is great ploy to get them to stay still for long periods of time. What is a little disappointing is the LED read outs. I feel like it is a throw back to the 80’s. You have to translate the lit pattern in the provided manual. My guess is that my son will get easily bored with it. But all in all, it does a have a certain entertainment value…more like a drinking game.
Googling about it, I found some interesting geek articles. An interesting post is on http://www.clockworkrobot.com/jedi/. He shares the results of some reverse engineering. Hack A Day has really good post about using the output to compose music…a project called Mental Note.