 Fun for the audience it's made for. |
| Review Date: December 12, 2009 |
| Reviewer: J. Granquist, Lincoln, Nebraska |
This is all that my son asked for for Xmas or his 9th birthday. At the time we asked him, it was well over $100. But he kept asking & it got decent write ups so the search began. I purchased his for just around $75 and it was a good deal at the time, I see that now on Amazon it goes for half that now. Such is life!
So he opened it last night and is still wearing the wireless headset this morning. He is intregued! The adults found it interesting but not for long. We adults can be finicky! But my 9 yo loves it, and that's all that matters. Whether it actually measures the beta waves in your brain or it's just completing a circuit, he doesn't care. It seems to work for him though. He can make the ball go up & down at will, at it was intertaining to hear his baby brother shout "up!" "up!" as big brother made it go up. Same with down.
All that matters to me is if it puts a smile on my son's face, and it does. He loves Star Wars and he loves this! I gave it 5 stars because if you ask my son, it is perfect. And that's the audience it was meant for. |
This toy DOES work! READ HERE FOR HOW TO DO IT!!!
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| Review Date: January 7, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Shauna M. Wertheim, Washington D.C. |
| I'm 18 years old and my friend and I, instead of studying for exams, spent 2 hours on this thing. It took me 20 minutes to get it to do what I wanted, but you're absolutely incorrect if you think this thing is random. It takes exactly what Yoda says, having a calm mind. Seriously, you just have to focus really hard on the section of the tube you want it to go to and if you're capable of maintaining that focus it'll work. I read about it on several scientific websites. It involves the device reading the excitement of your brainwaves. When it's in the right spot, you subconciously say "that's right" in your head and it'll stay there if you can keep focused. It'll also go up to the very top level if you focus very hard on something else, generally to the point of "daydreaming". When I thought of tons of random things though like going from staring at the ball to thinking "basketball, chocolate, girls" the ball would drop. If the lights are blinking on the device, that means that the probes don't have a good connection to your skin. |
Ingenious!
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| Review Date: January 1, 2010 |
| Reviewer: BookMan, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA |
I first heard about this toy about a year ago - in articles on EEG and new, creative uses for EEG training (generally referred to as neurofeedback). To be honest, I wasn't aware that it had been released and came across it at Costco, which is currently selling it for just $33 (really)! So, I thought I'd buy one just to fool around with it - especially since I'm quite familiar with neurofeedback and also have my own eeg machine to use of home-training. While the "real" EEG device is far more sophisticated than this toy, I understood the premise behind how the Force Trainer works.
As neurofeedback requires patience and multiple attempts before you can begin driving your own brainwaves (especially since you don't "feel" anything), I was prepared for this to be somewhat difficult. To begin, I let my boy try it out first (kids usually respond quicker than adults, especially at first) and he was able to use "the force" within ten to fifteen minutes - now, he can do it much faster. So, after seeing his success, I gave it a try. Again, it was difficult at first but, with practice, I too was very successful!
I strongly suspect that some of those who have left negative reviews have done so because they honestly don't know what to expect and give up too quickly. At the moment, I'm looking for information on what frequencies are being trained (again, I suspect beta waves - probably those in the low beta range [SMR]). Assuming the SMR (sensory motor rhythm) is being trained, a relaxed but focused state is required. It's also possible that slower brainwaves may also be used by this toy (particualarly alpha waves) as those indicative of a relaxed state. I've got to look around a bit more to find out what the Force Trainer uses for their target brainwave(s). My recommendation is that if you are not having success with this toy, keep trying as you will eventually be successful (and have a lot of fun, once you are). |
REALLY WORKS! READ THIS FIRST!
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| Review Date: January 9, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Happy Kid, |
This toy is wonderful. Sure, it requires quite a few batteries but those that say that "there are no brain waves in my hand"... chances are they were using it near a strong source of radiation (like a computer) that confuses the machine and makes it think it's your brainwaves. NO, it's not a set of pre-decided places the ball goes. When you restart a round, it makes a bit easy and starts up but it'll drop almost instantly (after going up a few inches) if you can't hold it up. The easiest mode by far in my opinion is free-play, it makes you focus on keeping the ball up (though they should add different difficulties to freeplay, I think) since the training mode can get annoying since it seems to stop working occasionally if you can't get the ball to move for a long time (Then you must restart the round and it'll work, which takes one second).
Just want to say, if you find the Yoda catch phrases annoying (or even notice them to much of a degree), you are either extremely tempremental or (more likely) you aren't focusing as you should. It's funny how toys like this are easier for kids than for adults, even though they require concentration. What are we coming to? :P
Side note: There are three ways to play this, as I see it. One, just try to focus hard or put yourself in stress. This way is not fun and doesn't teach as much, though I suppose it works on your concentration. Two, focus on getting the ball up. This is tons of fun and gets your concentration up. Three, convince yourself the force is real. You'll be very talented at this game and have a lot of fun, but... I don't know, take this one with a grain of salt.. it must be fun to imagine the force is real as you play this though (and know it's not after). |
Don't give up, there's a "New Hope"
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| Review Date: February 23, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Shadowspawn, Austin, Texas |
This is a really cool toy for a kid. This is the future of toys. I waited to give it to my son after his birthday party... you can't just open it out of the box and master it and didn't want everyone crowding him because it's not that type of toy. It's raising and lowering the beta wave output of your brain just by thinking differently, which we don't consciously do. That is we don't link it normally to any activity (except a heart attack!) until you start to use this toy.
I must note that at first my son did his best (masters all 3 levels and all 5 sublevels) right before bedtime or right after waking up. He'll use his hand as a focus point, raising it, lowering it, etc.; when a friend is around he's learning to do it and ignore distractions. He now can even do pretty well while his sister is making fun of him.
It's teaching him concentration, and to not react as much to outside interferences. He actually plays differently in some situations; he's not distracted as much at all.
This device gives feedback on your mind, so yes, it does "read" your mind as much as a simple device can. It detects beta levels, the easiest to detect and most common ones that don't need intrusive sensors. If you are the excited type or anxious it'll peak the ball at the top. If your brain is on overload it won't work. If you are taking any stimulants (especially ADHD drugs) this won't work, you'll peg it. Interruptions play havoc. If you are really relaxed (artificially) it won't do anything. If you are taking "beta-blockers" this won't really work quite right either.
For those adults with problems, c'mon and think for a second: adults produce more beta waves than children (look at the intended age) and some are more stressed than others so don't be surprised if you can't control it right off the bat. I put it on freeplay and was talking with my wife and it'd get pegged. You need to be calm, the contacts need to be clean and your skin clean, and you need to be alone without distractions and clear your mind. I mean clear it.
This isn't telekinesis. This is a beta-wave feedback device.
Besides being a toy, I wear it while coding or data mining and it's interesting to "hear" the machine move depending on what I'm concentrating on. (Get a 9v transformer, I chew up the batteries by doing this)
I can see this turning into a multi-person game someday soon.
My suggestions: Buy the 9v transformer. If the headset doesn't make a difference if it's on or off, *it's broken*, it should flash on the base and the headset if there's no contact. Make sure your skin is clean, no lotions. Clean the contacts off with something gentle and not oily. |
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US $99.70
