Neural Impulse Actuator

By Reece

What it is
The Neural Impulse Actuator (NIA) is a braincomputer interface (BCI) device
developed by OCZ Technology. BCI devices attempt to move away from the classic
input devices like keyboard and mouse and instead read electrical activity from the
head, preferably the EEG. The name Neural Impulse Actuator implies that the
signals originate from some neuronal activity; however, what is actually captured is
a mixture of muscle, skin and nerve activity including sympathetic and
parasympathetic components that have to be summarized as bio potentials rather
than pure neural signals. As of May 27, 2011, the OCZ website says that the NIA is
no longer being manufactured and has been end-of-lifed. (USASMA, Unkown PCI
Input Devices, 2006)

Introduction
Neural implants have always been a cyberpunk fiction staple. They either grant the
user special abilities or turn them into near cyborgs. Were not there yet, but for
what is worth OCZ is trying to make that future a little less distant (and fictional)
with the Neural Impulse Actuator, or NIA for short. Its a control system that
interprets your brain waves and tracks facial muscle tensions into game input,
making it possible to control by thought the actions of a virtual gunman during a
game of Counterstrike, for instance. The idea behind the concept is to increase
reaction time up to 60% by eliminating the time it takes the command from your
brain to reach the hand over the mouse. We are about to see if it delivers, but first
lets take a look onto the device itself. (SeeJayJames, 2008)

What it

does

This OCZ Nia translates your body electrical bio signals into computer commands
and you will get immersed into the game playing. You can also customize behavioral
profiles of your character and do it by your sub consciousness. (USASMA, Unknown
PCI Input Device, 2006)

Controls
When was the last time you used your jaw to control a machine? Unless you're Stephen
Hawking or extremely lazy, you probably can't remember. How about using your eyes or
your alpha brain waves? Didn't think so.
The NIA makes those things possible thanks to a headband with three diamond-shaped
sensors positioned at the front. According to OCZ Technology Development Director
Michael Schultes articles on the subject, the sensors are made of a plastic injected with
highly conductive nanofibers, which the NIA hardware uses to read electrical potentials
from the user's forehead. OCZ built the remainder of the headband out of soft rubber,
with a lanyard at the back to allow for adjustment. A cable runs down the left side of the
headband and plugs into the black NIA box, which includes two completely separate
circuits: one hooked up to the headband and the other hooked up to the host PC's USB
port. The two circuits only talk to each other through an optical transceiver, ensuring that
users won't get electrical shocks if things go awry.
On the user's PC, the NIA control software converts electrical potentials from the
headband into usable input. Schulte explains that the software separates the different
frequencies in these potentials using proprietary algorithms not unlike fast Fourier
transforms. Running these algorithms on a continuously streaming flow of data can
apparently hog some "serious CPU cycles," although we didn't see the control application
eat up much more than 10-15% of our test rig's Core 2 Duo E6400.
At this point, you might be wondering just how the NIA actually interfaces with games.
OCZ's solution to that problem is quite clever: when it enters the game mode, the NIA app
simply translates inputs into keystrokes. You can hit CTRL-F12 to enable and disable the
input system in order to avoid any accidental key presses in setup screens, but in theory,
the NIA should work with almost any game. That's quite convenient for such a novel
device, even if Schulte says it could be done better:
Even though this still works with a certain amount of sluggishness, the concept is
somewhat atrocious, since it takes an analog physical reaction that is then emulated into
a manual keyboard input that is then translated into a command on the game level. A
more elegant solution would encompass taking the biological response and streaming it
directly into the game using the DirectX platform as vehicle.
The NIA software lists eight different inputs in total. The bulk of those inputs are made up
by a "muscle" input that tracks facial muscle tension (largely from jaw and eyebrow
muscles) and a "glance" control that tracks lateral eye movement. Six brain-wave inputs
three for alpha waves and three for beta wavesfill out the neural control aspect of the

NIA. This post by Dr. Schulte suggests alpha waves correspond to aggression and that beta
waves can correspond to pain management. For instance, one can trigger the Alpha 2
meter by thinking of an expletive. Schulte told us he successfully used this method to get
his character to jump in a game, but I could never get this to work myself. (OCZ, 2008)

Conclusion
I'm still not sure how I feel about the NIA. On one hand, the device has undeniable
potential, and I could see it becoming popular if OCZ refined the concept and improved
usability. I can certainly understand the appeal, even if I don't particularly feel like
practicing for weeks and spending hours fashioning complicated control schemesSchulte
even suggests making separate schemes for different maps in the same game.
(Brainfingers, 2010)

Bibliography
Brainfingers. (2010, September 14th). Neural Impulse Actuator, 0.043. (OZC, Editor,
OZC, Producer, & OZC) Retrieved November 9th, 2016, from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neural_Impulse_Actuator
OCZ. (2008, August 9th). OCZ OCZMSNIA Neural Impulse Actuator. Retrieved
November 9th, 2016, from NewEgg:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826100006
SeeJayJames. (2008, September 18th). OCZ's Neural Impulse Actuator. Retrieved
November 9th, 2016, from TechReport:
http://techreport.com/review/14957/ocz-neural-impulse-actuator
USASMA. (2006, June 3rd). Unknown PCI Input Device. Retrieved November 9th,
2016, from Social Technet Microsoft:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/95883455-e826409d-9e2b-5929fa884fb3/unknown-pci-input-device?forum=w7itprohardware
USASMA. (2006, June 3rd). Unkown PCI Input Devices. Retrieved November 9th,
2016, from Social Technet Microsoft: http://techreport.com/review/14957/oczneural-impulse-actuator