DIY electroencephalogram

openeeg

I’ve always been impressed by hardware hackers. Whether it’s a simple DIY digital picture frame, or a full-scale conversion of a gasoline car to electric, there’s something about the “can do” spirit of these guys that really impresses me. I marvel at the stuff in Make Magazine on a regular basis.

Here’s something you probably won’t find in Make, though. The OpenEEG project “is about making plans and software for do-it-yourself EEG devices available for free (as in GPL).” “It is aimed toward amateurs who would like to experiment with EEG.” And who doesn’t?!

I’m not a doctor, so I don’t know much about EEGs. According to the OpenEEG website, the real thing costs several thousand dollars. The OpenEEG parts list suggests you can build a DIY EEG for about $200. What might you do with a homebrew EEG? Neurofeedback training, experiment with brain-computer interfaces, and maybe change your personality. Just in time for the holidays!