Mindwave, Body-control Technology Pioneered for 'Second Life' Avatars

New technology being developed in Tokyo University aims to use color-coded mats and regular web cams to calculate the users' position in 3D space, reports the Associated Press. The avatar technology is being tested on popular virtual world Second Life. It may eventually be used in video games, one researcher says.

Meanwhile AT Keio University, researchers are using technology to monitor brain wave activity for left and right movement by attaching electrodes to a users' scalps, using the brain's sensory-motor cortex, AP said.

The researchers are applying for patents to their technologies but have no plans to commercialize the software yet.