The DeanBeat: Will Neuro Games become the next revolution of the game business?

I got a kick out of the recent Neuro Gaming 2014 conference in San Francisco because it raised so many familiar sentiments about the dawn of a new era in gaming. Neuro games are something new that can take gaming beyond the traditional violent, controller-driven game and give us wonderful user interfaces, brain-enhancing entertainment, and even fitness-improving applications. These kinds of games sound so great, but they’re being overhyped as well, considering how young the industry is.

The conference is just in its second year, but it drew more than 550 people. The industry has its own prophet and evangelist in Zach Lynch, founder of the conference and the man who wants neuro gaming to become a recognized category that combines games, brain research, sensors, and new kinds of user interfaces for computers and entertainment devices. Neuro games touch our nervous system in some way. The diverse category includes Lumosity’s brain-training games, which have been played by 60 million people; Microsoft’s Kinect body-sensing cameras; Emotiv’s brainwave-monitoring headsets; fitness games like Nintendo’s Wii Fit and Brain Age handheld titles; and even the Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles.