We are pleased to announce the Puzzlebox Orbit, a brain-controlled helicopter now available on Kickstarter.

Puzzlebox Orbit

For the past two years we have been publishing Open Source software and how-to building guides for hacking RC helicopters with Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) control using NeuroSky and Emotiv EEG headsets. Now we're finally making a finished product available to the public, while still freely releasing all source code, available hardware schematics, 3D models, and so on. The goal is to provide a fun toy as well as an educational introduction to BCI and neuroscience.

For more details and to help support this effort, please visit our Kickstarter.

Electronics News in Australia has just published an article featuring Puzzlebox and our recent plans for expanding our mind-controlled robotic wheelchair project.

Puzzlebox technology will be featured on an upcoming episode of NOVA: Science NOW as part of a segment on Emotiv. Examples of our Open Source Brain-Controlled Helicopter and LEGO Mindstorms initiatives will be on display.

The expected air date is November 14th, Wednesday at 10 pm EST.

Puzzlebox wishes to propose a new concept interface for Augmented Reality systems such as Google's Project Glass:


Youtube: Puzzlebox Glass Goggles Demonstration

Our demonstration features an Android application which uses a reverse-engineered version of Google's "Goggles" API (which technically has not yet been made available to the public) to perform an image-recognition search on photos captured automatically whenever a user's level of interest or focus is detected above a personalized threshold - as detected by a single-sensor EEG electrode located on the temple alongside the heads-up display (HUD).

In this way the system can provide ambient information specifically related to objects and locations which have attracted the user's attention.

Puzzlebox is pleased to announce that our submission to Instructables.com's Jack Daniels Independence Project has been selected as a Finalist.

If awarded the $25,000 Grand Prize we will use it to build an Open Source hybrid wheelchair and telepresense robot which can be navigated using Augmented Reality and P300-based EEG detections.

Above: Example process for retrieving a drink via P300 and Augmented Reality

Our project plan is explained in more detail on the submission page and summarized in this 60-second video:


Youtube: Independence Project - Submission Video

Puzzlebox has completed an update to last year's Pyrokinesis art installation. This new version of brain-controlled pyrotechnics has been redesigned to be easily portable and relies on simple Android and Arduino hardware to operate a servo motor connected to what is essentially an over-sized Bunsen burner. Unfortunately we will not be releasing open documentation or software for this particular project due to the implicit risk of working with open flames, but we are pleased to offer live demonstrations where and when appropriate and safe.

Puzzlebox Pyrokinesis 2.0

Puzzlebox would like to thank members of the Flaming Lotus Girls (FLG) for the opportunity to integrate brainwave control of flame effects during a portion of the premiere of Tympani Lambada, their latest fire sculpture.



Puzzlebox Pyrokinesis is a specialized version of Puzzlebox Brainstorms which issues RS-485 control commands to individual solenoid-based poofers. A "poofer" collects, releases, and combusts gaseous fuel. Poofers are located at 14 points along each of the two archs found on the sculpture. Either arch can be controlled individually to produce various effects whose intensity increases proportionately to a user's mental state of concentration and/or meditation, as measured by a NeuroSky MindWave EEG headset.

For example, the "bridge" effect starts at one end of an arch and every few seconds a number of poofers are activated, corresponding to user's focus. As higher levels of attention are maintained that number increases until fireballs are produced across the entire arch. Likewise the "center" effect starts at the middle of an arch and proceeds outward in both directions based on realtime measurements. Alternatively, any individual poofer's solenoid can be activated manually for testing purposes.

More information about the elegant design and masterful engineering, building, and installation of Tympani Lambada can be found on their kickstarter page. If you would like to support their ongoing and future efforts please donate to FLG!

On March 17, 2011, software engineered by Puzzlebox was successfully used to establish a new Guinness World Record during a filming of the season finale of UK's The Gadget Show. In association with our partners at NeuroSky, MindWave EEG headsets were employed by the hosts of the show to control a crane weighing over 60 tons, picking up and maneuvering a car across a warehouse, all using the power of their minds.

The software was custom-designed for the occasion, working in coordination with an engineering team from Loughborough University to manipulate the crane's controls, based on the levels of concentration and focus of the hosts' brainwaves.


More information about the solution is available in this PDF

Readers in the UK can view the complete television episode which aired April 12, 2011 online here

And finally here is NeuroSky's own press release

Puzzlebox is pleased to announce that the recent Instructables write-up of our Brain-Controlled RC Helicopter project was featured in the April 2011 issue of Wired Magazine, as the final entry in an article entitled "Your Guide to 21 Awesome DIY Projects"


Wired Magazine, April 2011

Puzzlebox has released an update to "Puzzlebox Brainstorms" which allows for BCI (Brain-Computer Interface) control of robotic vehicles, radio controlled helicopters, and electric wheelchairs through commercially available consumer EEG headsets such as the NeuroSky MindWave, NeuroSky MindSet and Emotiv EPOC.


New Features include:

- Support for iRobot Roomba and iRobot Create robots from iRobot
- Support for selecting movement directions via EMG-based "Blink Detection"


Puzzlebox Brainstorms 0.6.0 - iRobot support and Blink Detection

Many thanks to Matthew Boggan from University of California, Berkeley for his contribution to iRobot support

Puzzlebox Brainstorms is eager to continue expanding our program to new schools, teachers, and parents. We have recently visited the campuses of Hilltop Prep and Octorara High School, featuring brief lessons in neuroscience and the history and current state of the art in Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) and sharing some of our technologies which incorporate attention and focus exercises to drive robots, fly helicopters, and play video games.

If you or someone you know would be interested to participate please do not hesitate to contact us.



Brainstorms at Hilltop Prep
Hilltop Prep is a co-educational day school which serves bright students with learning disabilities in grades five through twelve, offering an individually structured, rigorous curriculum that is complemented by a dynamic counseling support and mentoring program.




Brainstorms at Octorara High School
Octorara High School has approximate 900 students in grades nine through twelve. Their mission states: "We will consistently strive to provide a relevant and rigorous academic program that promotes critical thinking skills and the essential character traits necessary for each student to be successful in life after graduation."

Puzzlebox has announced the debut of our new product Puzzlebox Jigsaw which we are demoing all this week at GDC 2011, the Game Developers Conference at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco. Please feel free to visit us at Booth #2021.




Many thanks to NeuroSky for contributing space for our demonstrations.