Sailing a calm sea of brain waves
January 24th, 2007 by herinde
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On the subject of brain waves, the game of Brainball cannot be ignored. This electronic art installation works in the following way: Two players are seated at a table and their brain activity is measured. By accomplishing the least brain activity the players push a ball forward. Here’s the technical explanation:
“The brainwaves that move the ball forward, increasing the chance of victory, are called alpha and theta waves. They are generated in the brain when one is calm and relaxed. A considerably stressed player will therefore lose.”
To me, this seems like an original comment on modern society, competitiveness and entertainment – and a great example of the possibilities in the intersection between art and science. http://www.tii.se/touchingtheinvisible/brainball.htmlÂ
10 Responses to “Sailing a calm sea of brain waves”
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I actually tried that a few years ago – and I lost all three times. It was really hard not to laugh, being seated there and watching each other solemnly in the eyes while the little ball moved between us.
I would love to try it… and I agree – it really seems like a great comment on modern society. And a smoooooth intersection between art and science.
That man looks like the King of Sweden.
(Sorry, couldn’t help ride that wave :-) )
whooops… it IS him! (just ignore last comment! Just thought it was ridiculously funny to see him there and imagine him monitoring a seemingly scientific experiment)
Yep, you’ve gotta love that picture :) That is one hell of a publicity photo.
Allright then – so I wasn’t the only one who thought he looked very “Bernadottish” – what’s the story?
Dunno. It’s a Swedish project, so it’s not entirely impossible that he showed up at an opening somewhere – although he does look a bit photoshopped (just to start off the conspiracy theories…).
Hmmm… conspiracy theories… that definately calls for a post…
That’s most certainly the result of a lot of brainwaves crossing and rolling on…
[...] So far, we’ve discussed royalty a little but we haven’t really discussed the royal wave – the wave that royals and presidents give their admirers when doing public appearances. Since the Swedish king has already been representing genetic royalty, here is an ol’ Queen waving instead: [...]
Interesting… would love to try it. I read in an article about free diving that part of the breath-hold trick is to switch brain activity into “meditation mode”. This involves a less energy consuming pattern of brain waves compared to both “awake” and “sleep” mode. Guess “meditation mode” would be the appropriate approach for winning this game.