Thinking cap lights up your emotions on the head to communicate

We are in the world where augmenting human experience through wearable technology has become a norm. Face-to-face communication has taken a back seat and we are looking for newer ways to express our emotions and expressions in day-to-day communication. Considering this, Metti Nordin and Valtteri Wikström had devised a thinking cap for the Wearable Electronics course at Aalto Media Factory.

Part of Brainwise project, the thinking cap as they call it, is a hat that reads the wearer’s brainwaves and projects brain activity on top of the head. The hat is built in with two capacitive EEG sensors, custom built to read the wearers brainwaves. It is also fitted with RGB LEDs on top of the head. The EEGs using the Aurdino Lilypad analyze the Alpha brainwave activity interpreted as relaxation which is visualized by blue and red LEDs on the head. The cap is used to show signs of emotion or distress with the green LEDs visualizing difference between the sides.

While I am not sure if I’d ever want to show off my emotions on the head and broadcast them to the world, but the developers believe the thinking cap can have future application in self-monitoring of stress and in communication.