Alternative Controllers

[John Speth]

There was some company (name escapes me - info at home) that produces a brainwave to MIDI package.  For a princely sum of maybe $1500, you could get a device that has inputs for brain activity, heartbeat rate, and finger sweat (as I understand it) or GSR and one other thing.  This device, when connected to your PC's serial port, will produce a MIDI data stream through the use of their Windows program.  I got a demo copy of this program from Compuserve a couple of years ago.  If they're still in businesss, I'll bet they have a web site too.  If anyone is needs particluar info, let me know and I'll post it.

I always thought that using brainwaves would make a the perfect tool for an audience participation concert where the brain activity of the audience would collectively (or however) manipulate the parameters of the performance.  Every performance wuld be different if 1) the audience was sufficiently stimulated and 2) if you set up the controller so that the right dramatic parameters were appropriately changed.

John Speth
johns at oei.com

-----Original Message-----
From:	zappa at bellsouth.net [SMTP:zappa at bellsouth.net]
Sent:	Saturday, August 16, 1997 4:47 PM
To:	synth-diy at horus.sara.nl
Subject:	Alternative Controllers

Greetings,
        I have started experimenting with an EEG (Electroencephalograph) 
CV to midi interface.
Sounded very straight forward at first but our brainwaves don't exactly 
track our immediate thoughts and the resultant control voltages obtained
from the device can be very useful one second and be useless the next.
Anyone out there familiar with high accuracy medical instrumentation?
Anyone insane enough to collaberate on this project? 
If anything the EEG looks awesome for live shows!
All of the electrodes hanging off your head.                           
Free brainwave hardcopies for your adoring audience.