Neurosky Mindwave

Neurosky Mindwave Bruno Loff 12/6/11 3:14 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave bill of the wandering mind 12/9/11 8:12 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Andrew . 12/9/11 1:26 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Simon T. 12/18/11 8:44 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave m m a 12/18/11 9:30 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Bruno Loff 12/18/11 1:05 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Andrew . 2/1/12 12:20 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Stian Gudmundsen Høiland 2/9/12 4:21 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Andrew . 2/11/12 7:02 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave N A 2/11/12 10:12 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Stian Gudmundsen Høiland 2/11/12 12:31 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Andrew . 2/12/12 9:10 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Stian Gudmundsen Høiland 2/13/12 4:12 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Gerry T 6/2/12 6:31 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Gerry T 6/3/12 2:58 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Bruno Loff 2/13/12 5:50 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Andrew . 2/13/12 8:03 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Marc A Christian 2/18/12 8:29 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Andrew . 3/6/12 6:40 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave tom moylan 3/6/12 9:07 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Daniel F Gurzynski 3/20/12 3:31 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Andrew . 3/20/12 8:30 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Jeff Grove 3/20/12 9:45 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Andrew . 3/20/12 10:06 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Ritzzo Way Long way short 5/7/12 5:39 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Andrew . 5/8/12 12:00 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Bruno Loff 5/9/12 7:15 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave m m a 5/9/12 9:40 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Bruno Loff 5/9/12 11:44 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Ron E Ovitt 3/20/12 2:01 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Bastiaan van Beuningen 5/31/12 3:07 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Andrew . 6/1/12 8:43 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Bastiaan van Beuningen 6/4/12 7:29 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Andrew . 6/4/12 11:13 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave katy steger,thru11.6.15 with thanks 6/10/12 10:00 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Matthew 4/26/13 4:34 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Ronan O'Driscoll 6/2/13 10:32 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Richard David Jamieson 7/12/13 4:39 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave bill of the wandering mind 7/17/13 8:40 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave bill of the wandering mind 7/17/13 8:55 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Daniel F Gurzynski 7/19/13 8:07 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave old dried leaf 8/18/13 3:28 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Bruno Loff 8/18/13 4:27 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Alistair Thomson 11/7/13 2:28 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave J C 11/7/13 3:16 AM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave old dried leaf 1/12/14 9:16 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Bruno Loff 1/13/14 12:08 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Bruno Loff 1/13/14 3:46 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave Dream Walker 1/13/14 4:33 PM
RE: Neurosky Mindwave old dried leaf 1/21/14 11:51 AM
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Bruno Loff, modified 12 Years ago at 12/6/11 3:14 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 12/6/11 3:14 PM

Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 1094 Join Date: 8/30/09 Recent Posts
Research grade EEG brainwave reader for 100 bucks?

Neurosky Mindwave

Just ordered mine... I'll let you know if it is interesting for meditation purposes.

Amazing times we live in, heh?
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bill of the wandering mind, modified 12 Years ago at 12/9/11 8:12 AM
Created 12 Years ago at 12/6/11 3:35 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 131 Join Date: 4/14/11 Recent Posts
Yeah - imagine playing the 'brahmavihara video game' - where you score points by hitting certain mindstates...

Lol - watch if we aren't careful we will accidentally transform the whole world!
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Andrew , modified 12 Years ago at 12/9/11 1:26 AM
Created 12 Years ago at 12/9/11 1:26 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 336 Join Date: 5/23/11 Recent Posts
Wow.

Really keen to hear how it goes. Site looks interesting as well.
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Simon T, modified 12 Years ago at 12/18/11 8:44 AM
Created 12 Years ago at 12/18/11 8:44 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 383 Join Date: 9/13/11 Recent Posts
I'm really interested in EEG for brain training and exploration of mind states. If I had the money, I would get the Emotiv EPOC (300$) which has 14 electrodes. Still, what matter the most is that the device can measure all kind of brain waves (Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, Gamma) .

I'm also interested in neurostimulation. I would really like to try this device:
http://www.shaktitechnology.com/
m m a, modified 12 Years ago at 12/18/11 9:30 AM
Created 12 Years ago at 12/18/11 9:30 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 153 Join Date: 6/9/11 Recent Posts
replying so i get updated.

looking forward to your results! looks really interesting.

I was hooked up to a simple heart rate/ o2 level monitor the other day for a medical procedure and I had fun with getting my heartrate to go slower and faster with different meditation techniques. I got as low as 42 and as high as 65 all while lying in a bed!
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Bruno Loff, modified 12 Years ago at 12/18/11 1:05 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 12/18/11 1:05 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 1094 Join Date: 8/30/09 Recent Posts
Ok, I am not making any strong claim about the product, I have only tested it for a week or so.

The "mindwave" headset is made by the neurosky company, it consists of two electrodes — one placed in the forehead for measuring and one in the ear to serve as a "ground" measure of the background noise.

Based on this, the integrated circuit inside the headset outputs five different kinds of information: the raw signal output (perhaps noise filtered?) from the forehead electrode, a sort of fourier transform of that signal (perhaps smoothed out somehow) in 8 bands - delta, low/high theta, low/high alpha, low/high beta and gamma, one special output that serves to detect when the user blinks (!), and, finally two 0-100 meters called "attention" and "meditation" which use some proprietary algorithm to process the raw signal and somehow evaluate how "engaged" and how "relaxed" you are, respectively.

This past week I have played exclusively with these two meters. I find that there is a decent correlation between how concentrated I am and how high the attention meter is, and how relaxed I am and how high the meditation meter is. I have programed a tiny custom-made program which makes a sound beep whenever the "attention" meter falls below a certain value, and I have effectively attempting to use this to prevent me from getting into long mental elaborations ("monkey mind"). With some success, perhaps more than I anticipated, perhaps not as much as I would hope for — I wish to be extremely cautious before claiming that this device is anything other than a cool toy. It certainly is that.

A hint for those who are considering such a purchase (I know I've been wanting such a gyzmo for years now): For technological, aesthetical and comfort-related reasons, I regret having bought mindwave, and would have bought the myndplay headband instead (same circuits, same outputs, has bluetooth connectivity, and is much more comfortable-looking).
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Andrew , modified 12 Years ago at 2/1/12 12:20 AM
Created 12 Years ago at 2/1/12 12:20 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 336 Join Date: 5/23/11 Recent Posts
Thanks for the update Bruno, I was away and missed it when you posted it. I was hanging out and thought you hadn't updated, but here it is ! ripper...

I'll give the one you linked to a spin and post what I find.
Stian Gudmundsen Høiland, modified 12 Years ago at 2/9/12 4:21 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 2/9/12 3:59 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 296 Join Date: 9/5/10 Recent Posts
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Andrew , modified 12 Years ago at 2/11/12 7:02 AM
Created 12 Years ago at 2/11/12 7:00 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 336 Join Date: 5/23/11 Recent Posts
I received the Myndband yesterday and have given it a whirl. I'm planning on doing a full review for this thread, and have let the supplier know. There is a possibility of beta testing their new 'Pro' software that will have all the graphing features (I was hoping were already there actually and have started looking for hacks to extract the data, there are 3rd party ways of doing it...),

the software has three small meters that look like speedos out of a car, one called 'attention' one called 'meditation' and one call 'zone' (I think) , basically if they all go to the right then that is 'good'


Some interesting things I've noticed/learnt so far.

Listening to music moves the meters in the opposite direction to what is considered 'good'

Getting good scores does line up with paying attention without geting involved, which is really hard to do given the fact it is a feedback thing, when the needles go into the good zone, I tend to get involved, and they swing back.

What I'm hoping is the pro software has graphs that can run during a session so i can analyse afterwards all of the raw data as well at the output of the meters.

I'll update when i have spent more time with it. By the way, the one I have is the one Bruno linked to, the link you have posted is far more advanced, looks good though.
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N A, modified 12 Years ago at 2/11/12 10:12 AM
Created 12 Years ago at 2/11/12 10:12 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 157 Join Date: 7/10/11 Recent Posts
Stian Gudmundsen Høiland:

Neuromarketing / Neuroscientific Consumer Testing

Your brand is the heart and soul of your business. Brand share – of market and of mind – is your company’s greatest asset. Your brand – its image, attributes, and the loyalty your customers have to it -- exists in the deepest levels of the subconscious minds of your consumers.

Uncovering what consumers notice, like, and remember about your brand is the key to moving brand agnostics into brand evangelists and building brand share and loyalty. Humans have a hard-wired need to have relationships not just with other humans, but also with the fun and/or functional tools we use every day – including brands. The brain has well-developed neural programs for connecting with the meaningful items in our lives. The challenge is how to present your brand as something your customers want to have a long-term relationship with. After all, we love novelty and change but we also crave constancy and commitment.

Achieving, maintaining, and monitoring this delicate balance is what makes great brands great. Applying neuroscience to learn and measure the resonance of your brand provides precise, reliable guidelines for how you design, present, and communicate your brand to the customers you want to reach. This deep understanding of subconscious preferences is the key to building brand passion and to the start of a relationship that could last a lifetime.


At a loss for words... Brahmavihara game indeed.
Stian Gudmundsen Høiland, modified 12 Years ago at 2/11/12 12:31 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 2/11/12 12:31 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 296 Join Date: 9/5/10 Recent Posts
Yes, the company behind the Mynd EEG headset has an agenda. I don't care about that, though. If EEG headsets as advanced and functional as the Mynd becomes avalible at a reasonable price... I can't wait!

Point being that the Mynd EEG headset seems to be at a very interesting intersection of power/functionality, ease of use/practicality and cost.
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Andrew , modified 12 Years ago at 2/12/12 9:10 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 2/12/12 9:07 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 336 Join Date: 5/23/11 Recent Posts
Just to keep you in the loop, I will be beta testing new software this week and get back to this thread sometime next week. I'm impressed with the supplier's pro-active response to me, so here's hoping the 'pro' software can deliver too.

It really does respond to 'wide, attentive, relaxed focus' as the 'positive' feedback on the dials, I've used it just mucking around infront of the computer watching the dials and got quite concentrated, it is like a kasina practice with a macbook!. I'm looking forward to sitting a session without watching the dials and see what it looks like in a graph.

So to be fair, I'll wait till I've given feedback to the supplier about the software, then update here further.

Edit: to be clear I have the Myndplay headset.
Stian Gudmundsen Høiland, modified 12 Years ago at 2/13/12 4:12 AM
Created 12 Years ago at 2/13/12 4:12 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 296 Join Date: 9/5/10 Recent Posts
Thanks for the update. Looking forward to the review!

Does the software offer a visualization the 8 bands of brainwaves: hi/low- beta, alpha, theta, delta? What about left/right hemisphere?

This is the functionality I want out of an EEG headset: Video of Ken Wilber.
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Bruno Loff, modified 12 Years ago at 2/13/12 5:50 AM
Created 12 Years ago at 2/13/12 5:50 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 1094 Join Date: 8/30/09 Recent Posts
I have been programming some custom software to help with meditation. Gauges, graphs, and warning bells. I'll post it here sometime. It's a fun toy, huh?
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Andrew , modified 12 Years ago at 2/13/12 8:03 AM
Created 12 Years ago at 2/13/12 7:14 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 336 Join Date: 5/23/11 Recent Posts
It is that! I've got the beta software now, having trouble getting it to connect, something I've done wrong probably...Custom software heh? Sounds great, coming from you I can be sure it meets our exacting standards around here! Good work mate.

What does the warning bell do though?..
Marc A Christian, modified 12 Years ago at 2/18/12 8:29 AM
Created 12 Years ago at 2/18/12 8:29 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Post: 1 Join Date: 2/18/12 Recent Posts
Hi Bruno,

am quite curious about your software - especially if it runs on a Mac OS X, or is it on another platform?

Thanks
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Andrew , modified 12 Years ago at 3/6/12 6:40 AM
Created 12 Years ago at 3/6/12 6:31 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 336 Join Date: 5/23/11 Recent Posts
Ok.

After spending some time with the Mynd Play, I can only really echo Bruno in saying it is a fun toy. Basically the unit itself works fine, but the software is arguably far too basic for what a meditator is looking for (which actually is a bit of a grey area in my case, pardon the pun). I was hoping that the new 'pro' software would be the new standard software, but it has been launched as an additional 35 pound purchase, making the whole thing pretty pricey.

The 'pro' software only really brings it up to the basic type of info you might expect to be seeing (session times, and graphs) but doesn't have anything particularly detailed in the amplitude readings, basically the graphs are OK, but really basic.

The hard thing is to work out what it is you want it to do, which is what i said the the vendor; it works, and it's graphs do show the differences between sessions, but it has no flexibility so if you want manipulate the data, you can't. Which leads me back to wondering what I'm looking at and wanting to compare it in a spreadsheet, work out means and standard deviations etc, get a clearer picture than 'that squiggly line is bigger than that one'

The reality is this particular company is more geared towards entertainment rather than research/meditation so it wouldn't be fair to say it fails as a product, I rather failed to see that is where the marketing is pointed too. Note the extra large word "Entertainment" on the home page; http://www.myndplay.com/ -can't say I wasn't told!

If you are thinking of doing some personal research with EEG you will be quickly wanting more detail from the data. The upside is the headset itself is apparently compatible with the neurosky software and potentially other 3rd party developers, so if it really does get your juices flowing, the headset is fine and is definately comfy enough, though it is a bit too small for my extra large head emoticon

Edit: i too would be interested in the software hack you put together Bruno, that little beep could be my ticket out of here...
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tom moylan, modified 12 Years ago at 3/6/12 9:07 AM
Created 12 Years ago at 3/6/12 9:07 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 896 Join Date: 3/7/11 Recent Posts
Hi all,
interesting.

i have been using the emotiv system and integrated into openvibe software for a while now.

it is all interesting but it doesn't seem to have any positive influence on my meditation.

another interesting field of play is gnaural and its ilk. brain entrainment via bianaural beats. after a short time of random experimentation it threw me into a "sleep paralysis" event which was very strange.

happy tuning
Ron E Ovitt, modified 12 Years ago at 3/20/12 2:01 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 3/20/12 2:01 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Post: 1 Join Date: 3/20/12 Recent Posts
We have an addictions program and are going to use BrainPaint. I bought Mindwave and have had a similar experience. It is hard to know how to adjust the meditation without looking. I would love to use a home model so we can let people work at home. I am very interested in the meditation. I am glad that Bruno is working on some software. I would be interested if you want someone to test it.
Thanks for the feedback.
Daniel F Gurzynski, modified 12 Years ago at 3/20/12 3:31 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 3/20/12 3:31 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 23 Join Date: 8/22/09 Recent Posts
Hello to all;

I picked up the neurosky device about a month ago and I have found it an interesting tool and an amazing distraction at the same time! For me it was very easy to get lost in making the numbers change, the lines move, rather than make serious progress at meditation. Then again I haven't liked much of the software out there either. It will be a treat to see software written by hardcore meditators.


tom moylan:
Hi all,
interesting.

i have been using the emotiv system and integrated into openvibe software for a while now.

it is all interesting but it doesn't seem to have any positive influence on my meditation.

another interesting field of play is gnaural and its ilk. brain entrainment via bianaural beats. after a short time of random experimentation it threw me into a "sleep paralysis" event which was very strange.

happy tuning
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Andrew , modified 12 Years ago at 3/20/12 8:30 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 3/20/12 8:29 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 336 Join Date: 5/23/11 Recent Posts
Daniel F Gurzynski:

It will be a treat to see software written by hardcore meditators.


definately.

Having actual data of what 'jhana' looks like on a generic prosumer EEG device would be great. (lined up with the different descriptions from practice notes) -or simply If infact any correlation is indeed there.

Can you imagine having something like that to compare your efforts to? Or even perhaps how surprising it might be to see no correlation in the numbers at all.

i think it would be immensely useful and would definately work towards the type of descriptions that Dr Ingram has been talking about. (3rd nana, peak gamma and alpha, no theta, dropping of into spacious awareness as the the beta kicks in )


emoticon
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Jeff Grove, modified 12 Years ago at 3/20/12 9:45 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 3/20/12 9:45 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 310 Join Date: 8/24/09 Recent Posts
A few years back after reading 'The Relaxation Response' by Dr Herbert Benson I purchased some interactive biofeedback monitoring software which displayed Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Galvanic Skin response (GSR). Played with it for a while but found in the end that it was a diversion from practicing. No doubt as costs come down and functionality expands these tools will be great aids, especially to establish a baseline and to measure progress but I found with less effort more progress was made with old fashion meditation.
e.g.
www.weber.edu/wsuimages/uuccc/Biofeedback%202011.pptx
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Andrew , modified 12 Years ago at 3/20/12 10:06 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 3/20/12 10:06 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 336 Join Date: 5/23/11 Recent Posts
Definately agree that at the moment the functions available are limited and poorly suited to meditation. Overall, unless one has a spare laptop set up by their cushion and otherwise some customised software to use, it takes more time to investigate 'what computer says' than it did to sit!

Given the right setup though, it would potentially be a great benefit to those wondering what type of 'calm' is meant in calm -abiding.

one of the interesting things I found was that listening to music move the dials in the opposite direction to the 'good' side. Reminded me of Buddha's instructions to avoid music that I read somewhere once.
Ritzzo Way Long way short, modified 11 Years ago at 5/7/12 5:39 PM
Created 11 Years ago at 5/7/12 5:39 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Post: 1 Join Date: 5/7/12 Recent Posts
Hi!

I joined the forum because of this thread =D

I recently purchased the Brainwave. For years I was impressed by the video of Ken Wilber with the EEG. Finally, I found something to play with, even I knew that this cheap EEG would never be precise. Anyways I was seduced by this "attention" and "meditation" parameters too.

I just have it one day, but I find it a little confusing. I'm not an expert, but the feedback doesn't seems to be very accurate (?). I mean, I had looked for information about how they determined what was "meditation" and "attention", as far as I found, they just took 14 random people to set this parameters. I'm not very sure, but seems that they simply concluded that Beta Waves is concentration (12 to 30hz) and between 8 and 12hz, alpha waves, is relaxation (they call it meditation). What do you think?

I have tried different types of meditation and relaxation techniques, and as far as my experience is, the "meditation" and "attention" parameters doesn't seem to correlate my 15 years of practice. I think they put the labels to something they conclude from this experiment with 14 people, but I start wonder if this "meditation" factor has anything to do with real meditation.

In the other hand, I tried with the "Meditation journal" and "visualizer 2.0", and they don't seem to make the same lecture (?). For example, the visualizer has a game to burn a barrel with your attention, I practice it until I get the trick, and then I go to Meditation Journal, and doesn't seem to have the same effect.

Please, tell me that I'm completely wrong! jijijijijijiji.

Anyways, still interesting to visualize the data in the "visualizer 2.0", but I don't know how to interpret the waves neither, because all the waves from delta to gamma, seems to go like crazy. I've checked some youtube videos, and it seems that everybody had a similar measurement. I mean, isn't it true that a normal person shouldn't have delta waves activity in waking state? I'm confused because I don't know how to relate all the brain waves information and the Mindwave feedback. Any idea?

An example, I slept for 20 min, and when after I checked the data everything seemed very similar as awake, how can that be possible?

Thanks for the thread.
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Andrew , modified 11 Years ago at 5/8/12 12:00 AM
Created 11 Years ago at 5/8/12 12:00 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 336 Join Date: 5/23/11 Recent Posts
Hi Ritzzo,

yeah, I think what you have found is pretty par for the course. Until some truly advance meditators are writing the programs to reflect useful feedback for sitting practice it won't be much fun, the stock programs don't cut it.

i think the attraction (the idea of having a real bio feedback 'coach') is valid, though i think it needs a few more years in the market to gain any momentum and worthwhile programs.

i found, if you would like to try this, that a really wide relaxed attention would move the dials in the 'good' direction. the issue i had was the graphing just didn't make enough (useful) sense to me, and the ability to dump the data to make my own graph wasn't there. If a program was out there that easily and cheaply dumped the data for session graphs/times then one could track it themselves lining up there journals with what 'computer says!' Seeing a graph of an advanced meditator while in various states and being able to compare if I'm heading in the right direction (following instructions and comparing my own charts) would be the dream.

that is if there is true co-relation in the whole thing to start with.

i haven't had a chance to investigate more than I did in this thread, at this stage the time vs benefit for me in not high.

though if you are inclined to investigate options, please keep us up to date.

by the way, Welcome!

Andrew
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Bruno Loff, modified 11 Years ago at 5/9/12 7:15 AM
Created 11 Years ago at 5/9/12 7:15 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 1094 Join Date: 8/30/09 Recent Posts
Actually writing such a program wouldn't be very hard.

I will try to do it in the next couple of months.

Meanwhile here are two "hacks" that just measure your attention and meditation levels and give you audiovisual feedback.

First there is pBMnF (processing-based brainwave monitoring and feedback), which is a small little hack (i.e. it sucks) written using processing. Windows, MacOS and Linux versions, as well as source code, are attached. BTW this needs you to have thinkgear connector running.

You have to restart every time you want reconnect to the headset (the button does nothing).
Keys are: a (monitor attention) m (monitor meditation) b (monitor both) n (no feedback) z (changes something about feedback, I forgot what)
1-0 set the minimum parameter value (10%-100%) feedback beeps if less than this minimum

LINK

Then there is aBMnF (android-based ...) for android. There is some brain entrainment sound which decreases in volume the higher the parameter goes. (click the bottom-right button to connect) This only works if your headset supports bluetooth (which must be turned ON in the android phone)

Changing these to record the raw brainwave data should be straightforward, however I might not get around to do it for a while.

LINK
m m a, modified 11 Years ago at 5/9/12 9:40 AM
Created 11 Years ago at 5/9/12 9:40 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 153 Join Date: 6/9/11 Recent Posts
Do you think a hack to midi out would be possible?
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Bruno Loff, modified 11 Years ago at 5/9/12 11:44 AM
Created 11 Years ago at 5/9/12 11:44 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 1094 Join Date: 8/30/09 Recent Posts
m m a:
Do you think a hack to midi out would be possible?


Are you asking me if it would be possible or if I can do it myself?

I think it is possible and easy, and yet I don't feel particularly motivated to do it (I would sooner do other features). The source code is up there, processing is right here: http://processing.org/ (let me know if you want to implement it yourself, you will need a bunch of libraries)
Bastiaan van Beuningen, modified 11 Years ago at 5/31/12 3:07 PM
Created 11 Years ago at 5/31/12 3:07 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 2 Join Date: 5/31/12 Recent Posts
Hi I am new here.
I have never tried meditation or something like that before. Im male 47 years old and newly diagnozed with Atypical Autism (Asperger) and ADD. I have used ADHD medication ( Concerta ) for 2 months now. I dont know if it has helped or not since I dont feel or notice any effect from the drug. It might have helped since I have noticed that I am a bit better concentrated and get little bit more "done". But the difference is so small that I am not willing to go on with medication for a long period.

I am thinking about starting to train Mindfulness, Yoga, Meditation since what I have heard and read it will help after a while of training. However I would like to be able to record and measure my progress over time. I am not about using these Neurofeedback tools for training only for measuring since I believe that it is better to learn it the right way.

So I wonder if these MyndPlay/Neurosky tools are of any use for measuring progress in meditation for a beginner like me ?
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Andrew , modified 11 Years ago at 6/1/12 8:43 AM
Created 11 Years ago at 6/1/12 8:43 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 336 Join Date: 5/23/11 Recent Posts
Hi Bastiaan,

I think you are asking the same thing we are asking in this thread, and the basic conclusion is no, it doesn't really help at this stage for a few reasons, the most glaring for a beginner is that the programs seem to be written with entertainment in mind, not meditation as you or I may envision it.

I would save my money and measure your progress the old fashion way for now, i.e; by it's fruit. Though in your case, dealing with some diagnosed challenges and medication I would really suggest you think of joining a group with a respected / trustworthy teacher to help measure progress. From my interaction with individuals on forums, meditation can get quite off track when dealing with multiple factors influencing the outcomes of the practices, and it is not always good.

Just as an aside, and I realise this is unasked for advice, but I would suggest you head towards practices which are not specifically trying to bring on 'altered states', I would suggest more direct, mindful, open eyed sitting, aimed at 'immediacy of mindfulness' or 'relaxed sensate awareness' gently leaving any alteration of metal state aside as 'mayko' and not useful for solo practice. Sorry if that is more than you asked for, but I did notice the effort to share the diagnosis you mentioned as significant and wanted to address that while I have you attention, if only briefly.

all the best

Andrew
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Gerry T, modified 11 Years ago at 6/2/12 6:31 PM
Created 11 Years ago at 6/2/12 6:31 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 60 Join Date: 4/4/11 Recent Posts
Bruno,
The MyndPlay looks like a better unit.

It seems like this would be an interesting tool. Just record the raw waves to determine if you are in Alpha, Beta, Theta, Delta. You could then use the sound (or light) feedback to help train yourself to achieve specify brain waves.
It would be interesting to see what waves exist associated with different meditative states.

There is the Monroe Institute that does something like this for trying to reach states of astral projection.
http://www.monroeinstitute.org/

They do so with bin-aural beats. The left ear and right ear differ slightly causing the brain waves to change.

-Gerry
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Gerry T, modified 11 Years ago at 6/3/12 2:58 PM
Created 11 Years ago at 6/3/12 2:58 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 60 Join Date: 4/4/11 Recent Posts
I don't recall if this was posted on this site before or not but it is an interesting talk about the brain and "enlightenment" by a neuropathologist that talks about what happens to the brain when we reach "realization"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqrpKUTMXgY
Bastiaan van Beuningen, modified 11 Years ago at 6/4/12 7:29 AM
Created 11 Years ago at 6/4/12 7:29 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 2 Join Date: 5/31/12 Recent Posts
Hi
I thank you for the answer. If there is no good third party software for the MyndPlay devices then its better to skip it.
I am going for Mindfulness since I need to train my ability to "be in my body". I am quite of a daydreamer emoticon
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Andrew , modified 11 Years ago at 6/4/12 11:13 PM
Created 11 Years ago at 6/4/12 11:13 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 336 Join Date: 5/23/11 Recent Posts
Bastiaan van Beuningen:
Hi
I am going for Mindfulness since I need to train my ability to "be in my body". I am quite of a daydreamer emoticon


Good to hear it mate, i think it is the core of what alot of people find; what they do during the day is where it counts.

I used to use the avatar name of 'daydreamer', - I can certainly relate to you there!
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katy steger,thru11615 with thanks, modified 11 Years ago at 6/10/12 10:00 AM
Created 11 Years ago at 6/10/12 9:59 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 1740 Join Date: 10/1/11 Recent Posts
HI Bastiaan - l looked up the drug you mention, and I can assure you mindfulness does not have those side effects!

Do you exercise? Not a crazy amount, just say, walking 6km in the morning* (about 40 minutes) outside, or on an incline treadmill or on an elliptical and saying, as you inhale, "rising" (in reference to the rising stomach) and saying "falling" (in reference to the falling stomach)?

This is a very helpful way to begin mindfulness training and support the body and mind in its wholesome changes.


*before eating (maybe just have some water and may be few ounces of almond milk or something)
Matthew, modified 10 Years ago at 4/26/13 4:34 PM
Created 10 Years ago at 4/26/13 4:34 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 119 Join Date: 1/30/13 Recent Posts
Has anyone created or found useful free neurofeedback software for these devices? The pro research software suites for sale run into the hundreds of dollars. I'd prefer to see relatively raw brainwave data, with the ability to trigger alerts when parameters fall below certain levels. Most of all I want a concentration failure alert celebrity voice pack with Samuel L. Jackson screaming:

"There's no greater darkness than samsara!"
"Mara's pullin you into his realm of death!"
"We're all gonna die!"

And to help advanced yogis avoid distracting visualizations:
"I've had it with these mother@#$!ing nagas on this mother@#$!ing plane!"
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Ronan O'Driscoll, modified 10 Years ago at 6/2/13 10:32 PM
Created 10 Years ago at 6/2/13 10:32 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Post: 1 Join Date: 6/2/13 Recent Posts
Hi Matthew,

I would like to point you to my site mentronome. It is not a commercial site (and this is not spam :bashfulemoticon. However, I would like to have any Neurosky Mindwave users out there try it out. I put it together for myself and have found, personally, that regular measuring of my meditation practice has really helped me stick to it.

If anyone one else on this discussion wishes to try it out, let me know. I would love to hear any feedback you have. I have put a bit of work into the site and the desktop software and it is in a pretty usable state now. If there is a bit of interest, then I will keep working at it. I would also like to expand to other EEG hardware and mobile platforms in the future.

Some further mentronome links:

Richard David Jamieson, modified 10 Years ago at 7/12/13 4:39 PM
Created 10 Years ago at 7/12/13 4:39 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Post: 1 Join Date: 7/12/13 Recent Posts
I would like to point you to my site mentronome. It is not a commercial site (and this is not spam :bashfulemoticon. However, I would like to have any Neurosky Mindwave users out there try it out. I put it together for myself and have found, personally, that regular measuring of my meditation practice has really helped me stick to it.


Thanks Matthew, have just been to your site to download Metronome. I have experienced many of the same frustrations as those expressed above (e.g. what does the 'meditation' meter really measure, and why can't I record the raw data versus time).

I'm looking forward to experimenting with Metronome.

Richard
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bill of the wandering mind, modified 10 Years ago at 7/17/13 8:40 AM
Created 10 Years ago at 7/17/13 8:40 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 131 Join Date: 4/14/11 Recent Posts
If you want to read some really interesting stuff about meditation and a particular unique type of feedback called 'zengar' go to the Jhana Insight yahoo group and do a search for 'zengar' -

from there(post by Culadasa):

To briefly summarize the results of this uncontrolled and therefore admittedly rather unscientific experiment, all participants felt as though they had experienced some benefit from the Zengar training, enough so that they were unanimous in wanting to continue with it as an adjunct to their practice. As their teacher, I felt that most of the participants, and particularly those who were less advanced in their practice at the start of the retreat, had experienced more noticeable improvement than I would normally have expected for a retreat of this duration. In a few cases this was dramatic. People do typically experience considerable improvement in the quality of their practice during retreats, and often achieve significant breakthroughs as well, so that makes it very difficult to discern which effects might have been the result of intense practice in deep retreat, and which might be in fact due to the neurofeedback. All participants were reminded of this fact repeatedly, and asked to do their best to be objective in their evaluation. Nevertheless, every one of them, and myself as their teacher, were in agreement in feeling that the neurofeedback had made a positive contribution. It will be interesting to see if the progress achieved during retreat regresses as much post-retreat as usual. We have some preliminary reasons to suspect that it might not.



It is my impression that the more advanced a meditator is in his or her practice, the more subtle is any influence of the Zengar training. For example after a very large number of Zengar sessions (30 plus), I personally have not been able to detect any effect on my meditation or on my emotional state or other mental functions in daily life. But I did notice almost immediately a dramatic improvement in my ability to remember my dreams, and in the vividness, intensity and complexity of the dreams as well. Since dream yoga practices are currently the main focus of my personal practice, this has been a very great boon. The 40-year practitioner in the ten day retreat also reported a tremendous increase in vividness and intensity of dreams, and in the frequency and quality of lucid dream states. He also did not report any noticeable meditation effects, but was motivated to continue with the Zengar training in the future nevertheless. Indeed, the most common report from all meditators was an increase in dream recall, vividness and intensity.
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bill of the wandering mind, modified 10 Years ago at 7/17/13 8:55 AM
Created 10 Years ago at 7/17/13 8:55 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 131 Join Date: 4/14/11 Recent Posts
More from the post:

One case prior to the retreat involved a meditator who had for several years repeatedly and consistently, in and out of retreat, arrived at the point of strong concentration, accompanied by the arising of the initial physical sensations and energy movements that are the prelude to piti, but had not been able to move beyond this point. Often the intensity of the physical sensations was very unpleasant, associated with strong energy surges, jerking, sweating, and even nausea. After her first Zengar session, she experienced a breakthrough to the full arising of piti-sukkha, and has since continued to be regularly successful at achieving effortless stability of concentration and mindfulness accompanied by piti. Coincidence? Continued Zengar training has subsequently allowed her to use this ability to pursue Mahamudra practice.



Another case, also prior to the retreat, involved a meditator with several years of practice who had been plagued by anxiety that made it difficult for her to sleep at night, and that constantly intruded in her meditation practice, producing agitation and restlessness. After a series of Zengar sessions, all anxiety has dissappeared, she sleeps well at night, regularly achieves deep meditative states approaching Samatha, and has been able to overcome the bodily discomfort associated with long sitting.



These examples, combined with the experiences of several of the meditators on the 10 day retreat, suggest that Zengar may be particularly effective in helping experienced meditators who have become “stuck” at a particular stage in their practice.



There also appears to be a trend in these experiences which would suggest that the most dramatic benefits of Zengar training are likely to be seen in new meditators and in meditators in the early stages of the practice who are particularly plagued by forgetting, mind wandering, monkey mind, restlessness and agitation. It is an unfortunate fact that many would be meditators do not get beyond the early stages of extreme distractibility, and this training would be of enormous value to them.
Daniel F Gurzynski, modified 10 Years ago at 7/19/13 8:07 AM
Created 10 Years ago at 7/19/13 8:07 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 23 Join Date: 8/22/09 Recent Posts
Really like the software and I find it very helpful. Just want to put a question out. Is being in and holding in
'The Meditative State" from these devices the same as meditation?


[quote=Ronan O'Driscoll]Hi Matthew,

I would like to point you to my site mentronome. It is not a commercial site (and this is not spam :bashfulemoticon. However, I would like to have any Neurosky Mindwave users out there try it out. I put it together for myself and have found, personally, that regular measuring of my meditation practice has really helped me stick to it.

If anyone one else on this discussion wishes to try it out, let me know. I would love to hear any feedback you have. I have put a bit of work into the site and the desktop software and it is in a pretty usable state now. If there is a bit of interest, then I will keep working at it. I would also like to expand to other EEG hardware and mobile platforms in the future.

Some further mentronome links:

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old dried leaf, modified 10 Years ago at 8/18/13 3:28 AM
Created 10 Years ago at 8/18/13 3:28 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 40 Join Date: 8/7/13 Recent Posts
Bruno, I have been using the program you've created for mindwave, I like it a lot. Have you made any new updates to the program?
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Bruno Loff, modified 10 Years ago at 8/18/13 4:27 AM
Created 10 Years ago at 8/18/13 4:24 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 1094 Join Date: 8/30/09 Recent Posts
I have made some updates to the android version (added session recording), but not the other, which version do you use? In any case the code needs to be further tested before it's actually ready.

I'll admit I am quite disappointed with this first version of most of this kind of hardware. I got the feeling that the meditation and attention sliders were both kind of useless... Does it work well for you?
Alistair Thomson, modified 10 Years ago at 11/7/13 2:28 AM
Created 10 Years ago at 11/7/13 2:28 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Post: 1 Join Date: 11/7/13 Recent Posts
For what it's worth, the data from the Mindwave Brainwave visualizer on a windows-7 PC gets saved into:

C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\NeuroSky\Brainwave Visualizer

for example, a brainwave recording made of Radioheads 'Karma Police' ends up in a file in this folder called

Radiohead - OK Computer - Karma Police.xml

If you have Excel you can then go to the folder and open the file - it puts up a couple of questions about handling the xml file first, but just keep hitting enter until it opens.

The spreadsheet looks like this:

title          album         artist      elapsedTime   meditation  attention  zone  poorSignalValue   delta    theta  lowAlpha  highAlpha  lowBeta  highBeta  lowGamma  highGamma  raw  blink  createdAt
Karma Police   OK Computer   Radiohead   0             16          94         0     0                  15138   16506  15899      5396      17629    7569      4643      2799       0    0      2013-11-07T18:31:39.0519077+13:00
Karma Police   OK Computer   Radiohead   0.033233162   16          94         0     0                  15138   16506  15899      5396      17629    7569      4643      2799       0    0      2013-11-07T18:31:39.0519077+13:00
Karma Police   OK Computer   Radiohead   0.797599509   23          88         0     0                  19319   31286  15362     21240       8122    7373      6726      7228       0    0      2013-11-07T18:31:39.0519077+13:00
Karma Police   OK Computer   Radiohead   1.694899715   23          88         0     0                  19319   31286  15362     21240       8122    7373      6726      7228       0    0      2013-11-07T18:31:39.0519077+13:00
Karma Police   OK Computer   Radiohead   2.592199625   21          57         0     0                1665511  347880  13580     26636      41126   15638      6384      2057       0    0      2013-11-07T18:31:39.0519077+13:00
Karma Police   OK Computer   Radiohead   3.489499224   29          63         0     0                   9021    3538   5150     10824       3083    7147      3681      1885       0    0      2013-11-07T18:31:39.0519077+13:00


You can then use any Excel spreadsheet functionality to analyze your recording - charts, averages, whatever.

Some notes:
  • when poorSignalValue isn't zero it means the electrode was adjusted on your forehead or you moved out of range of the PC. It takes a few seconds to get good records again.
  • a new record is made about every 0.9 seconds, so a four minute song is upwards of 260 records
  • the createdAt field is when the whole file was saved, so the same for all records
  • hitting record for the same song twice overwrites over the previous - rename it, move it to another folder, or save the spreadsheet
  • close the spreadsheet before hitting record a second time because Excel locks the file
J C, modified 10 Years ago at 11/7/13 3:16 AM
Created 10 Years ago at 11/7/13 3:16 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 644 Join Date: 4/24/13 Recent Posts
Can you get the raw data in the spreadsheet? Or just the stupid meditation and attention numbers?

If I wanted to get the actual measurements in a spreadsheet, what would I need to do?
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old dried leaf, modified 10 Years ago at 1/12/14 9:16 PM
Created 10 Years ago at 1/12/14 9:13 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 40 Join Date: 8/7/13 Recent Posts
Bruno Loff:
I have made some updates to the android version (added session recording), but not the other, which version do you use? In any case the code needs to be further tested before it's actually ready.

I'll admit I am quite disappointed with this first version of most of this kind of hardware. I got the feeling that the meditation and attention sliders were both kind of useless... Does it work well for you?


I have not used the Mindwave device for a while. The only good use I got out of it was using your windows application. How did you code the program? It is very impressive. I remember when I used the device, the attention meter seemed to reflect how lucid my awareness was of my whole field of body sensations. This was not particularly helpful for meditation though, and it kind of hurt my forehead wearing the thing--so I lost interest.

Considering trying this again, I would only use it with your windows app.

Oh, I also remember there was another custom application someone released where it would reveal all the different brainwave frequencies--like delta, beta, etc. That was very exciting to use. I wonder if there is a way for your application to reveal the actual brainwave frequency meters instead of only attention & meditation.
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Bruno Loff, modified 10 Years ago at 1/13/14 12:08 PM
Created 10 Years ago at 1/13/14 12:08 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 1094 Join Date: 8/30/09 Recent Posts
The attention meter of my program should give you the same as the attention meter of the default program that came with the device.

The source code for the program was packed together with it, if you know how to program it should be easy to hack.

I didn't include the brainwave frequencies because I couldn't make sense of the readings I was getting, and otherwise I would have to do a fourier transform myself, remove noise etc and that seemed too much.
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Bruno Loff, modified 10 Years ago at 1/13/14 3:46 PM
Created 10 Years ago at 1/13/14 3:46 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 1094 Join Date: 8/30/09 Recent Posts
On a related note, after trying several devices, I came accross Mindplace's "Thoughtstream USB", which measures your galvanic skin response. I found it REALLY effective to get down into a relaxed state!

I've also wrote an app for it, if anyone's interested.
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Dream Walker, modified 10 Years ago at 1/13/14 4:33 PM
Created 10 Years ago at 1/13/14 4:33 PM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 1657 Join Date: 1/18/12 Recent Posts
Bruno Loff:
On a related note, after trying several devices, I came accross Mindplace's "Thoughtstream USB", which measures your galvanic skin response. I found it REALLY effective to get down into a relaxed state!

I've also wrote an app for it, if anyone's interested.

Do tell more....what are your experiences with it so far? what have you tried? concentration vs insite? What does your program do?
sounds totally fun
~D
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old dried leaf, modified 10 Years ago at 1/21/14 11:51 AM
Created 10 Years ago at 1/21/14 11:51 AM

RE: Neurosky Mindwave

Posts: 40 Join Date: 8/7/13 Recent Posts
Bruno Loff:
On a related note, after trying several devices, I came accross Mindplace's "Thoughtstream USB", which measures your galvanic skin response. I found it REALLY effective to get down into a relaxed state!

I've also wrote an app for it, if anyone's interested.


I would like it. I lost your old program which had the beeping--that was a useful program for me. I am also excited to explore the excel information that is recorded.

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