Impulse neuro controller reduces PC gaming reaction times

by Mark Tyson on 19 January 2021, 11:11

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Brink Bionics completed a very successful Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign in 2020 and gained the confidence to take part in the CES just last week. The Waterloo, Canada-based startup has a single signature product for now, the Brink Bionics Impulse. It is described as a "neuro-controller for PC gaming," and takes the form of a glove that uses built-in sensors to read your muscle bio-signals and applies AI to accurately predict your clicking intentions. They key claim for the product is that it can improve your gaming reaction speeds by as much as 80ms. Thus, the Impulse could be a boon to FPS, MOBA and RTS gamers on PC.

In PC gaming, particularly in the genres mentioned above and in competitions, milliseconds matter and gamers invest heavily in tech that promises to help them improve reaction times - be it an expensive monitor with minimal lag and latency, powerful PC components, or premium peripherals. The Impulse hastens your reaction times by knowing what you are thinking about doing, by reading those electrical muscle impulses, and 'clicking' for you before your muscles would be able to get around to completing the action.

Trisha Hershberger talks you through the technology and the appeal of the Impulse

Users wear the Impulse glove and launch the provided software (which will be changed from what is shown in the video above to a more consumer friendly UI before product availability). The Windows 7 to 10 software needs a bit of training for your left and right click fingers, and its AI will then become tuned to your bio-signals. Users can save gaming profiles and other people who share the PC can save their own profiles too.

Typically, a gamer might need 150ms to 200ms between their brain deciding to click and the finger completing the action, says Brink Bionics, but Impulse has been shown to reduce click complete time by 30-50ms on average or improve latency by as much as 80ms in the best cases.

Although the crowdfunding closed successfully last month, Brink Bionics has kept the Indiegogo exclusive pre-release pricing live at CAD$177 / GBP£103 plus shipping. The Impulse is expected to start shipping from May 2021.



HEXUS Forums :: 15 Comments

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I must be getting old and out of touch with acronyms. FPS=first person shooter. MOBA = multiplayer online battle area, but what are RTX gamers and how would they benefit from a reduction in latency?
kalniel
I must be getting old and out of touch with acronyms. FPS=first person shooter. MOBA = multiplayer online battle area, but what are RTX gamers and how would they benefit from a reduction in latency?
I'm guessing it's a typo, with it meant to be RTS.
I'm surprised something like this hasn't happened sooner with the massive advancements in non-invasive nerve impulse haptic systems.

The Thalmic Myo was an amazing example.
There will be a time, probably not that far in the future, where you will have a wearable that records all of your brain impulses and stores them.

Think about someone who has some sort of degenerative muscular condition, you know its coming, so before it does you are already recording brain impulses etc, so when the muscles waste away, or limbs have to be amputated you already have a system that knows how your brain and body works, will save time and if all of that data is stored centrally then it could be used as a template for anyone with any sort of requirement for brain-controlled systems..
[GSV
Trig;304]There will be a time, probably not that far in the future, where you will have a wearable that records all of your brain impulses and stores them.

Think about someone who has some sort of degenerative muscular condition, you know its coming, so before it does you are already recording brain impulses etc, so when the muscles waste away, or limbs have to be amputated you already have a system that knows how your brain and body works, will save time and if all of that data is stored centrally then it could be used as a template for anyone with any sort of requirement for brain-controlled systems..

I believe that is a big push for these types of technology and the next step for that is using similar technology to resolve spinal column issues (snaps/breakages) and overcome the severed areas.