Sailing a calm sea of brain waves
January 24th, 2007 by herinde
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.html
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.