Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation

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Ever wanted to control the movements of a human being, well you can (sort of) with Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation

Essentially there are a pair of electrodes mounted behind the ears and a small electric current will stimulate the vestibular system causing the person to feel pulled in that direction.

While it is not perfect, it does allow you to somewhat control when a person turns.

I saw a good example of it on Daily Planet this evening - although the person under control had a rather drunken quality to their movements.

You can read more about it here. There is also a video available (8Mb), but it does not show as clearly the effect as I saw on Daily Planet.

It is envisioned that this could be used in conjunction with video games to enhance the sensation of virtual reality. It was also suggested that this could be used as a personal guidance system for those who are map reading challenged. You would enter you destination on a small device plugged int othe system. then you would set off. At each turn point, rather than having a voice whisper "turn left" or "turn right" into your ear, you would instead get a little jolt to you vestibular system and automatically turn in that direction.

Not quite for me, I'm afraid.

Comments

Just me said…
That sounds kind of creepy to me. But then again my boys might actually go for something like it if it involves video games. Yikes
August 20, 2006 10:20 PM
Richard said…
Humans have a tendency to seek out altered realities (mostly throug intoxication).

I avoid losing self control at all costs.
August 21, 2006 12:50 PM
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