While channel surfing the other day, I came across a new toy that blew my mind. It was something that I didn’t believe could be true. Nonetheless, I found it online with an $80 price tag, thanks to Mattel.

New from the makers that brought you Hot Wheels and Barbie, comes a new toy that focuses on using your head – literally. Mindflex is the new game that makes you float a ball through an obstacle course using your brainwaves. I’ll repeat that one more time: Mindflex is the new game that makes you float a ball through an obstacle course using your brainwaves.

The game is simple – sort of. Using mind sensors on a headband, a person concentrates on the ball sitting in front of them. The brainwaves transfer to the sensors that transfer to a computer chip inside the course, which powers fans that cause the ball to rise in mid-air and make it appear to be floating. Then, using a dial on the board, you can move the fan back and forth, which in turn moves the ball. Using your level of concentration, you can make the fans shoot faster or slower and make the ball rise or fall. The course also comes with customizable pieces so you can create different variations of an obstacle course.

The end of kids’ physical activity may be upon us, ladies and gentlemen.

With video games already being played by the majority of kids in America, there is already the concern of children not getting enough physical exercise. Of course, to counter those concerns, Nintendo developed the Wii to create a more active generation of gamers. Also television networks like Nickelodeon and the NFL Network have created clubs and special promotional days for kids to get exercise.

All hope for an active generation will be lost, however, when more games like Mindflex hit the market.

I will admit it is truly an incredible concept. The ability to use brain waves to control something is unbelievably cool. I did not suspect that brain-wave technology would be used outside of hospitals or scientific labs so soon. Then again, why wait? Right?

Can you imagine what the future would be like if more games were like Mindflex? Instead of tossing a baseball around outside, you’d use technological headbands to throw a ball back and forth with precision and speed without getting off the couch. Or better yet, there will be a headband that controls a robot that controls another robot that is playing a video game. Unbelievable, and it’s not that far-fetched.

And this technology might not stop there. In 10 years, after we are all long gone from Kent State, there may be computer chips and wristbands that will control furniture and carry the kids back and forth from place to place without even moving a muscle. More and more kids will be lazy, and due to the lack of exercise, they will all develop health problems

Of course, this is just a thought – a thought that many of my critics would say is incredibly stupid. It is an idea, nonetheless, that has a pretty good chance of becoming a reality. With games like Mindflex on the market, I’ll be willing to bet any dollar amount that in the near future, a good percentage of kids will forget what it is like to play outside.

Eddie Kilroy is a sophomore communication studies major and columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected]