Xiaomi Ups Lazy Factor With Headband That Lets You Mind-Control Smart Devices

Be it Siri, Google, or Amazon Alexa, we’ve all had days when it just seems our smart home devices are refusing (on purpose!) to listen to us. And after you’ve yelled “Turn on my lights!” for the fifth time to no avail, you begin to wonder if relying on virtual assistants make life easier at all. 

But what if you could simply think your gadgets into working for you? Yup, simply turning the television on with just one thought, or changing the color of smart lights without having to voice your request. 

Well, Chinese technology giant Xiaomi is certainly thinking along those lines, and could possibly turn those scenarios into real-life with its MiGu Headband that supposedly reads brainwaves and translates them into an action. 

According to Input, while the futuristic product isn’t currently in development, it won first place at the brand’s third online hackathon. A group of the company’s engineers had come up with the concept, and created a prototype that could control smart devices without the use of applications or voice commands. 

The conceptual headband’s unveiling comes days after Xiaomi debuted a pair of live-translating smart glasses.

The developers revealed that the innovation makes use of electroencephalogram technology (say that 10 times fast) to monitor electricity activity in the brain. After receiving the measurements from three points, it analyzes the signals via software to figure out your intentions. 

Of course, creating software to translate brain signals into actions isn’t the simplest either. The team used machine learning to read EEG waveforms in order to determine the user’s preferred action, and said the headband could complete tasks ranging from controlling smart home gadgets to even detecting one’s levels of fatigue. 

As TechThirsty notes, it’s best not to get your hopes up, considering that Xiaomi has not officially confirmed that the device will ever be manufactured. But if it does hit stores one day, you could watch it literally fly off the shelves as no one would have to ever lift a finger again.

[via Input and TechThirsty, images via Xiaomi]