
Netflix engineers are developing Mindflix, a headband with sensors that allows you to choose a movie or show based on your brainwaves.
Browsing Netflix can be a time-consuming process, rife with decision-making paralysis and discord. By the time you choose a movie to watch, you could have already been halfway through it. Wouldn't it be great to just skip that step altogether?
Engineers at Netflix have the answer: Mindflix, a sensor headband prototype based on the Muse, which reads brainwaves for the purposes of meditation. Wearing the headband, viewers can browse Netflix without a remote control and select a movie or show just by thinking about what they want to watch.
Of course, Mindflix can't actually read your mind; instead, it detects activity in the frontal lobe, the decision-making epicenter of the brain. At this point, it's unclear how, exactly, the device translates activity levels into commands. But according to the video above, Netflix's engineers, who developed Mindflix for the company's annual Hack Day, were able to successfully use the device.
Unfortunately for the lazy among us, there's no information available regarding potential R&D for a market release.
Your Comment
6 Comments
I don't buy it. And you'd think Netflix of all people would know how to make a better video showing off their idea
January 31, 2017 at 11:22AM, Edited January 31, 11:22AM
This is clearly an official piece of news if you check the linked source that was included (thanks Emily).
That said, the article is quite misleading with, "Viewers can...select a movie or show just by thinking about what they want to watch."
This tech demo doesn't shortcut the browsing process on Netflix, but simply allows you to do that process with head gesture / mental commands rather than buttons on a remote control (the remote is arguably much faster).
January 31, 2017 at 12:40PM, Edited January 31, 12:41PM
Emily, this is a waste of our time here on NFS.
January 31, 2017 at 1:14PM
We are on February 1st, I think.... aren't we?
February 1, 2017 at 10:48AM
I...Why? Why would I want this?
February 2, 2017 at 10:57AM
This is just amazing for us. http://freeflixpremium.com
October 11, 2017 at 7:19AM, Edited October 11, 7:19AM