Brainball! 118
hasse writes "The Swedish Interactive Institute has developed an interesting new game called Brainball. The rules are simple; a steel ball on the playing field is controlled by biosensors on the players' heads, and the player with the least brain activity wins. A slackers game if I ever saw one. Kinda reminds me of the Amiga guru meditation game. The text about Brainball is only in Swedish but they've got an English section here."
Ooops, I lose. (Score:2)
Har (Score:1)
Brainball: The only sport that my ex-roommate [humpin.org] can win!
ummmmm...... (Score:1)
Anyone who could translate a summary from Swedish?
Eruantalon
They watch DS9! (Score:2)
Actually, this looks like a cool idea! I'm sure there are plenty of ways to expand on it, that would increase the challange.
Where can I get this?
Pro-Brainball (Score:2)
Why the least brain power, and not the most?
Simple. If they ever want this to become a professional sport, they're going to need jocks to play. Watching a game where jocks are competing for the MOST brain power would be like watching two old ladies boxing.
Fantasy Brainball League (Score:2)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Score:2)
cheating? (Score:1)
~ the ref
This could be fun.. (Score:1)
Slashdot. (Score:1)
Cool.
kwsNI
So (Score:1)
On another note it seems to me it would be cooler if they could have it whoever has the most active brain would win
Although actually it strikes me as a very pointless creating either way they take this
now if they had developed this to the point of where you could think and have the ball respond and it was some sort of manipulation by mind only
that would be kind of impressive. But to just see who has the least brain activity? and then they win? hospitals usually pull the plug on the one with the least brain behavior. Oh well
just my opinion for a worthless waste of research
To reference another article I hope they make this proprietary, that way some company trying to get rich will go bankrupt:)
wow pointless ramble
oh well
controlling thoughts (Score:2)
Slashdotted! (Score:1)
Re:ummmmm...... (Score:1)
Brainball's Stability (Score:2)
I wonder how the player reacts when nude photos of (ok, ok) a naked petrified Natalie Portman appear in their peripheral vision? Someone want to control an experiement here? I mean, it IS for science..
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Finally, my 15 minutes of fame! (Score:1)
Re:Har (Score:1)
Elitism? Realism.
Reminds me... (Score:1)
Re:Fantasy Brainball League (Score:1)
No, it's a toss up between Al Gore and Dan Quayle!
Re:ummmmm...... (Score:5)
Hmmm, I guess I really should dare take the plunge and actually try Brainball next time they demo it (yes, I work at the Interactive Institute)...
Re:Har (Score:1)
Re:Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Score:2)
beginning to weaken. He didn't realise that this was because of an old drinking
game that Ford learned to play in the hyperspace ports that served the Madranite
mining belts in the star system of Orion Beta.
The game was not unlike the Earth game called Indian Wrestling, and was played
like this:
Two contestants would sit either side of a table, with a glass in front of each
of them.
Between them would be placed a bottle of Janx Spirit (as immortalised in that
ancient Orion mining song "Oh don't give me none more of that Old Janx Spirit/
No, don't you give me none more of that Old Janx Spirit/ For my head will fly,
my tongue will lie, my eyes will fry and I may die/ Won't you pour me one more
of that sinful Old Janx Spirit").
Each of the two contestants would then concentrate their will on the bottle and
attempt to tip it and pour spirit into the glass of his opponent - who would
then have to drink it.
The bottle would then be refilled. The game would be played again. And again.
Once you started to lose you would probably keep losing, because one of the
effects of Janx spirit is to depress telepsychic power.
As soon as a predetermined quantity had been consumed, the final loser would
have to perform a forfeit, which was usually obscenely biological.
Ford Prefect usually played to lose.
Re:Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Score:1)
Re:So (Score:1)
Re:ummmmm...... (Score:1)
Eruantalon
Little - Much (Score:1)
LETS PLAY!!!!!!! (Score:1)
... (Score:2)
...
...
...
...
(Did I win?)
DAMN.
Re:controlling thoughts (Score:1)
Much harder than generating lots of useless mental activity.
Re:Fantasy Brainball League (Score:1)
George W. beats both, easily
Re:controlling thoughts (Score:2)
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine [nmsu.edu].
Re:ummmmm...... (Score:2)
I don't know (Score:1)
It's Friday. (Score:1)
Wow I'm going to enjoy sleeping in tomorrow.
Re:ummmmm...... (Score:1)
Here's my team: (Score:2)
Polly Shore
Cathy Ireland
Kato Kailan (sp?)
Lou from Littleton (a local radio personality, don't ask)
Norm MacDonald
Joe Bob (interrupts some cable movies to annoy people)
hmm, that's about all I can think of at the moment...
--
grappler
Translation (Score:2)
"Brainball is a new game which has been developed
by Swedish cross-science research elite.
The rules are simple; the player with the least
brain activity wins over the stressed out and
thinking opponent. Bio sensors attached to
the brains of the players reads alpha and theta
waves which controls a steel ball over a
playing field towards the opponents goal.
Brian ball was created out of a joint project
between artists, technicians and designers at the
Interactive Institute."
A way to win... (Score:1)
While you play Brainball, you also play Super Mario Bros on Nintendo 16. I've heard that people playing on NES have even lower levels of brain activity than people who are sleeping...
Re:Pro-Brainball (Score:1)
An athlete is someone who plays sports on a regular basis.
A jock is someone who plays sports on a regular basis and is an asshole.
kind of like the difference between a geek and a nerd in some circles, or in a different sense, black vs. nigger.
Please dont accuse me of being racist due to that previous statement, It was in reference to a chris rock standup... not the greatest source.. but you get my point here.
the winner would be Homer Simsons... (Score:1)
Re:Brainball's Stability (Score:2)
We've been playing this for a while (Score:1)
Re:controlling thoughts (Score:2)
Re:ummmmm...... (Score:1)
Of course, implementation and training become more complex...and to be of practical use the designers would have to choose brain areas which are interesting to have control over.
Re:Ooops, I lose. MODERATION LOSERS (Score:1)
Ok, you're right (Score:1)
Both Reggies (Rivers and MacDaneoo)
Tom Caldera (he's pretty stupid)
Sebastian Metz (he should probably be included on my team, actually)
but Lou from Littleton, with all his "ummm"s and "uhhh"s, stays.
--
grappler
Re:They watch DS9! (Score:1)
Re:Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Score:2)
... like hitting yourself in the head with a slick of lemon wrapped around a very large gold brick. And -- dark I say it -- a drink almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.
Seriously, if there any geeks here who have NOT read the HHGTTG series, you need to. funny stuff.
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If you wonder what da heck is a joyboard... (Score:2)
To me guru meditation always looked like blinking BSOD (a.k.a black screen of death :)
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Re:Har (Score:1)
As far as I can tell, most dumb people are born dumb, and it's not in their power to change that.
In my opinion, intelligence is not a valid way to determine the value of a person.
World Championship Play by Play (Score:1)
The Game - StarTrek TNG (Score:1)
Re:Fantasy Brainball League (Score:1)
Re:Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Score:1)
Definitely. Also read the Dirk Gently books, they're a riot.
You should also play Starship Titanic (even though it's for *that* OS). A tip: ask the "surfer" talking robot if it likes Pink Floyd. I rolled when I did it.
I can see the headlines now... (Score:4)
The MPAA beat a group of AOL hAx0r5 last Friday night in front of a capacity crowd to mark a new record for consecutive wins, 37. The previous record of 36 was held by a dead corpse early in the season last year, and was ironically ended by the very same MPAA team!
When asked about this amazing accomplishment, MPAA team captain and leading goal scorer Jack Valenti stated, "Wow... I am really happy that we could come together and do this. Heck, I have not felt so good about us since we submitted the source code of DeCSS on public record back in the 1999-2000 season." The AOL hAx0r5 claim that the contest was unfairly judged, however when asked to explain all they could say was "HEY, 7h|5 IZ n0t K3w1.."
I had to do it...
yeah, so you and your geek buddies.... (Score:1)
Finally... A sport that is Good For Geeks (Score:1)
a lamer (Score:1)
or (Score:1)
rewards always go to idiots (Score:1)
not cigarettes you eediot (Score:1)
I had a low tech version years ago! (Score:1)
4 contestants sit on a couch
last one up wins
Swedes have it all wrong (Score:1)
Official Rules (Score:1)
Re:Here's my team: (Score:1)
Re:World Championship Play by Play (Score:1)
The obvious followup is Monk Gloats Over Yoga Championship [theonion.com] from The Onion Archives...
"I am the serenest!" Bikram shouted to the estimated crowd of 20,000 yoga fans, vigorously pumping his fists. "No one is serener than Sri Dhananjai Bikram--I am the greatest monk of all time!"
Re:Pro-Brainball (Score:2)
Simple, take at an idiot and a genius (for the sake of the argument, we'll name the idiot Dave and the genius Brian-- from KODT, no real people impugned). Dave and Brian will have to sort the phone book into alphabetical order. For their convenience, the book is available in HTML format (!) The winner get's Dave's Hackmaster+12.
Ready? GO!
Dave's sweating bullets, playing with the file, pacing, playing with his mouse, nibbling on his fingernails. To no avail! He's struggling to cut and paste it in Word, but Word didn't convert the HTML right, so it looks like a Jon Katz article.
Brian is sitting back and sipping lightly on his mint julep, content as a cow chewing hay and prozac. He knew that the phone book is already in alphabetical order.
Software is smart, hardware is fast. By the same token, intelligence represents efficiency, effort is measured by brain activity.
That's why my dream team would be some of the slackest people on earth, such as me. Surfers, hippies, UNIX gurus and top physicists-- the first two don't even try, and the second two use minimal brain power to accomplish the most. Ideally, these are SubGenius types who don't get into idea fugues.
Startrek TNG (Score:2)
Every one was under the controll of some alien species, and only 3 people knew about it?
Maybe it's just me.
Re:The Game - Ghostbusters 1 (Score:1)
may I also suggest: (Score:1)
Pat Robertson
Jerry Falwell
Raplh Reed
OK basically any member of the Religious Right
John Rocker
Al Sharpton
Jesse Jackson
whoever desinged Apple's mouse
the asshole at Fox who decided to show ads at the bottom of the screen WHILE THE SIMPSONS IS ON
and of course, myself
Re:Pro-Brainball (Score:1)
My mind does not like to repeat itself and trys to do everything as efficent as it can, is this laziness or genius?
(Poll idea: How many slashdot readers consider themselves slackers?)
Re:yeah, so you and your geek buddies.... (Score:1)
But, since you have insisted on flaming me, I will tell you where you are wrong.
There is no imaginary "intimate tie" between all humans - we're all individual. Being "human" can be taken as lightly as I want - it's a loosely defined word at best. We're just the next best thing in pond scum.
As for your last two lines, they're ad hominum, and will be ignored.
Re:Startrek TNG (Score:2)
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Re:We've been playing this for a while (Score:1)
That's one couch I'm not sitting on...
Re:Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Score:1)
Can you just help me move my sofa out of the hallway?
Re:Done and done decades ago (Score:1)
yeah I know (Score:1)
i need to take just a little more time before I hit "submit"... hmmm, maybe that's what "Preview" is for...
sorry if I caused you any pain.
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grappler
Re:Swedes have it all wrong (Score:2)
But your brain might just be working "smarter", not "harder". Recall the article about increased brain activity resulting from sleep deprivation. That might be a way to cheat actually...
"Sorry, we'll have to take back your medal - tests indicate you've deprived yourself of sleep leading up to the game. It's an unfair advantage, and it's bad for your health..."
--
grappler
Re:They watch DS9! (Score:1)
Sure way to win... (Score:1)
Some interesting contests.... (Score:1)
A self-styled 1337 H4X0R (Score:1)
Re:Pro-Brainball (Score:1)
Why does someone always have to preach this crap every time anything even remotely Nietzche-ish is proposed? Can't you holier-than-thou defenders-of-the-meek get off your high horses long enough to tell a joke when you see one?
Slashdotters (Score:1)
Sorry (Score:1)
Re:A way to win... (Score:1)
Re:Pro-Brainball (Score:1)
Simple. The sensors mistake muscle activity for brain activity. And muscle activity shows up with say 10 times more amplitude than brainactivity.
So to make the machine give a high reading, you just have to move about.
Roger.
Re:Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Score:1)
Hmmm, unless you can warp space-time, I'd recommend a good chainsaw. You can get to the chainsaw store by following someone who looks like they know where they're going.
Re:yeah, so you and your geek buddies.... (Score:1)
Related research (Score:1)
Re:Related research (Score:1)
Re:cheating? (Score:1)
Re:ummmmm...... (Score:1)
Use of stimulants (Score:1)
Reminds me of the Hitch'Hikers (Score:1)
...of the Galaxy, in which DNA (Dougla N Adams) describe competitions where you must move the Pan-galactic Gargle Blaster bottle to fill the glass of your opponent who must then drink it, of course when you begin to lose you can hardly come back, and when you were loosing you had to "do some physically degradating actions, Ford was playing to lose"
Now if they could just replace the ball by a bottle of whisky THAT would be cool.