
What will it be used for?A lightweight battery-free headset can continuously monitor human brainwaves, and is powered by body heat and sunlight.
The portable electroencephalogram (EEG) device resembles a set of headphones. It could provide wireless monitoring of patients at risk of seizures, have cars or other machinery respond to stressed users, or provide new ways to interact with computer games.
Researchers at the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC), in Belgium, created the headset.
The low weight and mobility of the latest device would make it ideal for providing biofeedback on soldiers, says Van Hoof.
Cars able to track the brainwaves of drivers can reduce people's mental workload at times of stress by responding to brain states. A portable headset could make that possible on the battlefield or in other areas.
It could also be used to monitor patients at risk of seizure or as an interface for computer games.
Van Hoof says one immediate application is to allow studies of sleep in people's own homes, instead of in hospital wards where sleep patterns can be disturbed. "The more portable and unobtrusive the system, the more true to life the data will be," he says.
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