Valve CEO Gabe Newell gave an interview where he talked about brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), and how they could be used to revolutionize gaming and radically change the human experience.
Newell spoke to IGN about his work on brain-computer interfaces, a technologythat would allow devices that use your brain to be directly controlled, and potentially have the devices provide feedback to your brain. Speaking to New Zealand's 1 News, the Valve CEO went into more detail about what he sees as the future of the technology, stressing that developers shouldn't ignore this emerging technology.
Specifically, Newell said the following: “If you’re a software in 2022 and you don’t have a BCI headset in your testing lab, you’re making a stupid mistake.” Valve is working with “OpenBCI,” which has demonstrated a design for a BCI headset, Galea, that can work in conjunction with Valve’s Index VR headset.
Newell is particularly interested in the idea of using BCI to enhance immersion and personalize interactive experiences, such as in video games. With BCI able to interpret a gamer's emotions (whether they're excited, surprised, sad, bored, amused, and scared), games could be programmed to adapt to what the gamer is experiencing. One example is to slightly increase the difficulty if the system senses that the gamer is bored.
The Valve CEO also pointed out that BCIs could be used to “record” information in a brain – from changing emotions to even helping you feel like you’re a different person. Furthermore, Newell sees this technology as a means of experiencing things that are far more immersive than what our eyes and ears can offer. He added: “The real world will stop being the measurement we apply to the best possible visual fidelity. The real world will look flat, colorless, blurry compared to the experiences that can be created in people’s brains.”
Newell said the first applications of this technology could come in the form of a sleep-enhancing app, where users can choose how much REM they need for the night and signal it to their brains. Similarly, BCIs could provide a means of combating nausea after long hours of VR use, which is one of the main obstacles to virtual reality.
Valve doesn't plan to release a BCI headset for consumers anytime soon, due to the pace of research, and Newell is certainly aware of the risks of this technology in the future.
Newell also noted: "I'm not saying that everyone will love and insist on getting a brain-computer interface. I'm just saying that each person will decide for themselves whether or not there is an interesting combination of features, functionality, and price."
Finally, Newell explained that brain-computer interfaces are no less vulnerable to viruses or breaches , so the technology will require a lot of trust from consumers.
