There is always some far-out developments in the gaming world, most of which never make it off the drawing board. We have seen gaming helmets before but never one that promises to read your mind or emotions so that a game can react to you accordingly.

Australian start-up, Emotiv has created the Project Epoc helmet which hails directly from some sci-fi movie props box. It might sound like a wind-up but the Australian government is actually one of the backers and, since politicians are not known to be the greatest gaming enthusiasts nor generous with public cash, there might be something to it after all.

The headset uses a network of sensors that tune into the electric signals produced by the brain to detect player thoughts, feelings and expressions. This is achieved using three sets of software called Expressiv for identifying facial expressions in real-time, Affectiv for measuring discreet emotional states and Cognitiv which detects players' conscious thoughts.

The idea is that games developers will be able to create games in which charactyeers can react differently to the player’s facial, emotional or mental state. Emotiv says that the helmet connects wirelessly to any PC or console.

It’s a funky idea but I’m pretty sure that mind-reading is still a scientific Holy Grail. The company though will be demonstrating the technology at next week’s big 2007 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

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