2 New operational concepts for human-machine interaction GogniGame is a reinterpretation of a table tennis simulation game, which was launched on the market in the 1970s. As in table tennis, the players used a joystick in order to move a bar up and down the screen to hit a ball back to their opponent. If a player did not manage to hit the ball, his opponent was awarded a point. Realistic action For CogniGame, the development team transferred the virtual computer game to a real playing field that is composed of components from Festo. Two linear axes with drive units that move along the baseline operate the bat, which strikes the ball in order to keep it in play. Cognitive control By means of a brain-computer interface (BCI), a player uses only his power of thought to control the bat. As in electroencephalography (EEG), this interface measures voltage fluctuations on the player’s scalp by means of affixed electrodes. On the other side is a second player, who uses his muscle power to operate a lever that moves his own bat. For this game Festo developed CogniWare, a software solution that controls the bat by means of thoughts and biological signals. It establishes a communication channel between the brain and the hardware, without the user having to interact by means of voice commands or input devices. The brain-computer interface and the CogniWare software register the thought patterns in the player’s brain, process them and convey them to the hardware. Already a reality: touchscreen and voice input Modern interfaces such as multi-touch operation and voice control of consumer devices have already proved successful in everyday life. Already today, people can control their hi-fi systems or car air conditioning unit by voice commands or tell their smartphones who they want to contact. The next generation: brain-computer interface The brain-computer interface represents the next generation of human-technology interaction. With CogniGame, Festo is demonstrating this new operational concept, which will be of interest for the automation industry in the future. CogniGame: the virtual computer game transferred … … to a real playing field with cognitive control
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