One of the coolest tech gadgets to hit CES this past January was a device that allows you to control a floating ball solely with mind power. Similar technology has been used to allow quadriplegics to control PC mouse cursors to allow communication beyond what anyone could have imagined possible. Now, however, this technology in available by Mattel in the form of a game. The Mattel Mindflex Game (available at Amazon.com for $79.99) uses a headset that reads the amount of concentration the player has and uses that information to control a fan which floats a foam ball. The more you concentrate, the higher the ball floats; the less concentration, the lower it floats. Mattel uses the coordination between mind power, and motor skills to move the ball through a customizable obstacle course.  Take a look at this video from CES 2009 showing how the device works.

A similar product also recently became available. The Star Wars Force Trainer (also available at Amazon.com, $99.99) which uses mind power to complete objectives and tasks that are dictated to you by your Jedi Master. You go through

Star Wars Force Trainer

15 levels of progressively difficult challenges to increase your abilities with The Force. While I am a TechGeek, I think the extra $20 bucks for the Star Wars version may not quite be worth it, but for the die-hard Star Wars fan, this is a must have.

While these products are impressive, I am more impressed by the potential of this technology becoming available for consumer use. Just as the Wii controller revolutionized the way we play video games, I believe that mind powered, and mind control devices will create a new level of possibilities. And I can’t wait!