You won't be able to whack it with a lightsaber (yet), but when Uncle Milton Industries' Jedi Force Trainer hits stores this fall, you will be able to use the toy to flex your real-life Star Wars muscles. And you literally won't need to lift a finger to do it.
To play, you strap on a wireless headset that transmits to the toy's remote tower and converts your brain waves into action (much like a grade-school version of an EEG). Eventually, just like Luke Skywalker did under Obi-Wan and Yoda's tutelage, you learn to harness the "force" within your noggin enough to make the tower's sphere move up and down inside its clear plastic tube. Sounds fun, if only for a moment -- we imagine the novelty could wear off rather quickly.
Mattel also plans to roll out its version of the same technology in an upcoming game called Mind Flex. In this one, however, you focus your brain waves on a tiny fan that moves a ball through a tabletop obstacle course. Look for it this fall, priced at around $80, while the Jedi Force Trainer is estimated to come in somewhere between $90 and $100.
Both games are the latest announcements in what seems to be a growing mind-control gaming trend -- check out Engadget's coverage of the similar (if higher-tech) gizmos Mindset and Epoc for the skinny on those. [USA Today, Engadget]
