30 Executive Summary Preparing for the future


Mind over matter


Tre Azam CEO, MyndPlay


Region: UK Interviewed by: Adrian Pennington


theibcdaily


Dramatic movie and TV narratives are so last century. They are set in stone. The audience watches passively. But there's a revolution coming, claims Tre Azam, “bringing a level of gaming interactivity to video that's never been achieved before. Soon we will be using our thoughts to participate in games, TV and movies.”


His invention, MyndPlay, is one of a breed of emerging technology using brainwaves to control what we can do with content. He describes MyndPlay (the company) as manufacturer, research house, service provider, consultant … and part Jedi. Billed as the first mind


controlled video and movie


platform, MyndPlay uses an EEG (electroence-phalograph) attached like a sweatband around your forehead to pick up tiny electrical signals from the brain. “This tells us what state of mind you are in. We then allow that to control the direction or influence the outcome of a movie,” says Azam, who conceived the idea while working as a trauma therapist. In fact, the product uses


NeuroSky's headset with MyndPlay's custom video player to monitor mental activity during critical points in specially designed films, and offers multiple outcomes depending on your focus and relaxation levels.


“The basic premise was 'can


you make people have fun while they are training their brain? Yes, if you can make them realise they are not training their brain.” Existing films can be edited for the technology, but content created specifically for MyndPlay produces the best results. “The YouTube generation are experienced video editors,” says Azam. “If you can create content with a mobile phone or camera then you can also create mind- controlled interactive games.” Directors love it because it gives them a new way to see their movie and allows many people to have a different experience based on how they watch it or feel it.” Growing up in Hackney,


London, Azam started work at the age of ten building PCs in his father's factory. In his teens, he was teaching groups of men three times his age about the technology. A serial entrepreneur – viewers of the UK version of The Apprenticemay recall his appearance as a contestant in 2007 – he started documentary production outfit Treite Labs in 2009 before launching MyndPlay three years ago.


“I have about a hundred ideas a day but I have to go through a process of working out which to take forward. It has to be innovative, imaginative and something that disrupts an industry – and to make me a little bit of money on the side.”


“Soon we will be using our thoughts to participate in games, TV and movies”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52