• Los Angeles Times, Monday, August 9, 2010 10:59 AM

Shan Li reports on an array of new consumer products -- including electronics, toys, medical devices and smartphone apps -- that claim to allow consumers to harness their minds to control their surroundings. For example, Mattel's $80 Mindflex and Uncle Milton Industries' $130 Force Trainer work by having players wear headsets that monitor the electrical waves coming from their brains. By focusing, players can control the operation of fans, which then push small balls through obstacle courses.

Is it telekinesis, where people move objects with mind power alone just like in the movies? No, not really, admits Stanley Yang, CEO of NeuroSky, which provides the operating system for both the Mattel and Uncle Milton games. "Telekinesis in its pure form is really impossible," he says. "But this technology is as close as you will get."

Several major marketers are inverting research dollars in developing the technology to its fullest practical use. "If you have a lot of groceries, wouldn't it be convenient if you could think, 'Open up trunk,' and the trunk would open?" says Honda spokesman David Iida. "These are all possible applications to everyday life."

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