ZDNet has an interesting story about video games being used to help children with ADD. Using technology originally created by NASA, a company called CyberLearning Technologies has created a way to connect a child’s brain to their PlayStation 2. It’s some tricky shit:

BrainGames includes a helmet with three sensors, which can be easily attached to the head to measure brain waves. The data feeds a so-called smart box that hangs around the player’s neck and is hooked up to the PS2. The smart box is a modified game controller that collects a real-time signal from the brain, or a snapshot of brain activity every 30 seconds. The data is then processed with a program that affects the game.

One racing game, called “Burnout,” is modulated for speed. If the child is operating at peak performance and attention, the car will reach 100 mph. But if the child is tired or less attentive, the speed might fall to 70 mph, even when the game controls are pressed with the same exertion. The only way the child can get the car to go faster is to focus.

Having played “Burnoutâ€� on a number of occasions, usually on-line via XBox Live, the idea of an army of formerly Ritalin-addled kids running me off the road with their minds isn’t too exciting. Still, you have to give it up for innovation—even if that innovation leads to being called “fagâ€� by pre-pubescent boys as they ram your car into oncoming traffic.