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The BBC is testing a new brainwave reading headset, in an attempt to allow users to control iPlayer using just their mind.
The headset has been developer by This Place, a company who evolves digital platforms, which uses sensors to track brainwaves.
It uses one sensor on the wearer’s forehead and another that is placed on top of the user’s ear, which help to interpret electrical activity as concentration or mediation.
Once users focus their mind, it will trigger a contextual command, for example allowing users to launch an app or choose a programme to watch.
Once the app lands on the chosen programme, users will have to think until a bar fills up on the left-hand side of the screen.
Cyrus Saihan, head of business development for the digital division at the BBC, said: "It’s an internal prototype designed to give our programme makers, technologists and other users an idea of how this technology might be used in future.”
During its first trial, 10 BBC staff members tried out the device and were able to launch iPlayer and view a programme.
Sailhan added: “It was much easier for some than it was for others, but they all managed to get it to work."
Image source: This Place
