Table of Contents
Introduction
The Brainwave Visualizer is a colorful, interactive application controlled by your brain, that shows you a graphical representation of your brain’s activity. The Brainwave Visualizer includes the Brainwave Visualization, Brainwave Power Spectrum Graph, and the eSense Attention and Meditation meters. The on-screen shapes morph and change color depending on your state of mind. Because each person has a unique brain wave profile, no two visualizations will ever be the same.
Minimum System Requirements
| PC | Mac | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows XP/Vista | Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard |
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent | |
| Video card | DirectX 9.0+ graphics card (ATI Radeon 8500 or better) | |
| RAM | 1GB memory | |
| HDD | 100MB hard disk space | |
| Bluetooth | Bundled USB dongle or built-in receiver | |
Installing
PC
Run the provided Brainwave Visualizer Setup.exe installer. You may be prompted several times as part of Windows' security checks; simply continue through these. After these security checks, the installer will run. From there, just follow the instructions displayed on the screen.
Mac
Double-click on the provided Brainwave Visualizer Advanced.zip file to unzip it, then drag and drop Brainwave Visualizer Advanced into your Applications.
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Starting the Brainwave Visualizer
To start the Visualizer, double-click the Brainwave Visualizer application icon on your Desktop (for Windows), or in your Applications (for Mac). The Visualizer will start up in a window and automatically attempt to connect to your headset, displaying the Launch screen while doing so.
If the connection attempt is successful, then you should see the Welcome screen.
Configuring the Brainwave Visualizer
On startup, the Brainwave Visualizer will automatically try to connect to the headset. If this is unsuccessful, then a configuration panel will appear. You can also bring up this panel by pressing the Esc key on the keyboard.
Here, you can manually specify the port name as well as various other configuration options. You can also enable demo mode, which lets you run the Visualizer without a headset using randomly-generated data. On the Mac, you can determine your serial port name by following the instructions given in Appendix A: Mac Serial Port Name.
Configuration Options
NeuroSky Headset
| Label | Description |
|---|---|
| Status | This describes the status of the MindSet headset. The status is Connected if the headset is connected to the computer and the application is communicating successfully with the headset. The status is Disconnected if the headset is disconnected from the computer. |
| Port | This option tells the application which serial port to look for the headset on. |
| Scan ports | This option enables or disables the port-scanning function when a connection attempt is made. |
| Enable demo mode | This option turns on demo mode, which lets the Visualizer operate without the headset (using randomly-generated data). |
Visualizer
| Label | Description |
|---|---|
| Show axes | This option enables or disables the display of the radial axes shown in the dynamic visualizer. |
| Enable full screen mode | This option turns on full-screen mode, which causes the Visualizer to occupy your entire screen. |
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Interface
The Visualizer contains several interface elements that are common to the different views built in.
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | View selector | This lets you select between the available views. The selector only appears when you move the mouse cursor. It disappears if the keyboard and mouse have been idle for long enough. |
| 2 | Signal status | This tells you the quality of the brainwave signal coming from the headset. A red X means that the headset is disconnected. The more bars there are, the better the signal quality. Generally, a status with four or five signal bars indicates a good signal. |
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Views
The functions of the different views are explained in the sections below.
Chart View
The first view you see when you start up the Visualizer is the Chart View, which consists of the Dynamic Brainwave Visualization, the Brainwave Power Spectrum Graph, and the eSense™ Attention and Meditation meters. The Chart View provides a comprehensive display of all the data coming from your headset.
The Chart View contains an interactive help feature. Click on each of the various components to bring up an informative description of that component, along with voice narration.
Dynamic View
The Dynamic View of the Visualizer emphasizes the gently flowing shape of the dynamic visualizer component. You can use the left and right arrow keys to change the look and characteristic of this shape.
Try playing some music while running the Visualizer in this mode. You may see some unique shapes and colors that are generated by actively listening to a particular track!
Game View
The Game View of the Visualizer lets you play a simple telekinetic game that utilizes eSense™ values from the headset. You can hold down and drag the right mouse button to change the perspective of the camera. Buttons on the left side of the screen let you choose between eSense™ Attention and Meditation. The data shown in the top-left portion of the screen helps you keep track of various game statistics. The bar at the bottom tells you your current level of Attention or Meditation.
Troubleshooting
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