Mattel pacts with 'Mindflex' creator
By Staff -- Playthings, 4/28/2009 8:07:00 AM
SAN JOSE, Calif—Mattel has inked an exclusive multi-year partnership with NeuroSky, the “consumer brain-computer interface technologies” company that birthed Mattel’s much publicized Mindflex game, to develop a new category of games and toys that operate using the power of concentration.
The partnership includes exclusivity within numerous toys and games categories, all using headsets featuring NeuroSky’s ThinkGear technology. ThinkGear technology is based on a headset that recognizes a user’s brainwave activity during varying levels of concentration, processes the information into digital signals and then transmits the signals to the base unit as commands.
The first fruit of the partnership, Mattel’s Mindflex game, debuted at Toy Fair this past February. The game ($79.99; pictured) challenges players to levitate and guide a small foam ball around a customizable obstacle course using a mix of concentration to change the ball’s height and a hand dial to move the ball horizontally. It will be available at retail this fall.
“Using NeuroSky’s innovative technology, our engineers have created a product in Mindflex that takes gaming to an entirely new level,” said Geoff Walker, Senior Vice President of Wheels, Games and Radica, for Mattel. “Our partnership will undoubtedly lead to future innovations in the toy and game categories in the years ahead.”
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