We've had a good time with the Necomimi Cat Ears in the
past--we used them to monitor our interest in the last iPhone event--but the
Good Times project is a use for them we never expected.
The Necomimi Cat Ears, upon which the Good Times project is
based, use electroencephalography to monitor brainwave activity. The Cat Ears
are a pretty simple cause-and-effect toy: with high levels of brain activity,
the ears perk up. With low activity, they droop down. They're fun, but we
couldn't see much real practical use for them.
Good Times uses essentially a pair of the Necomimis without
the ears attached, and uses the brainwave monitoring to trigger a specific
response when people try to call you. When your brainwave activity is very
high, the device assumes you're mentally very engaged, working hard on
something, and thus do not want to be disturbed. If anyone tries to call during
that time, he or she will get your voicemail, which the headset has activated
via Bluetooth. Once your brainwave activity has lessened, people will be able
to get through again.
I saw the Good Times demonstrated at an AT&T event this
morning, and it worked quite well. I'm normally skeptical of EEG, having had
experiences with it where it just doesn't work, but Good Times seems to work
perfectly. It does, however, look completely ridiculous. That's not really a
problem, considering this is more of a fun experiment than a product that's
designed to be sold on the retail market. But it's fun!
Good Times was created at an AT&T hackathon, out of a
modified Necomimi set. It's the product of one man, Italian native Ruggero
Scorcioni, who took first place (and a $30,000 prize) for Good Times.