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Mitch Altman's Brain Machine is an old maker favorite. I came across it back in Makezine volume 10 and didn't think much of it, but when I reread that issue last month it struck me as an interesting device and a fun experiment. The only problem I have with Mr. Altman's original design is its appearance; while the psychedelic safety-glasses and exposed PCB are fine for Burning Man or summer camp projects, I want to give it to a friend who would appreciate something a bit more subtle.
My Brain Machine uses a pair of mirrored sunglasses to mask the LEDs and normal ear buds for the aural stimulation. The LEDs are glued to the inside of the glasses and connected to a length of audio cable that runs along one of the temples, over the operator's ear and plugs into the controller next to the headphones via a 1/8" stereo jack. The controller is a simple black enclosure with a power switch on one end and two output jacks on the other.
Just keep in mind that flashing lights can cause seizures in some people, so when sharing your brain machine with friends just make sure they're aware of what it is before they try it out so they can make an informed decision.
If you are prone to seizures yourself but you're interested in this device don't necessarily give up on it! I don't know much about seizures so I can't offer any advice but if you want to try the brain machine out talk with your doctor and see if you can work out a way to try it safely, or see if you can modify it to work with your own body. If you do modify the Brain Machine to work better for you in any way please let me know; I'd love to hear about it (Mr. Altman probably would like to hear as well, but I don't know how to get in touch with him).
My Brain Machine uses a pair of mirrored sunglasses to mask the LEDs and normal ear buds for the aural stimulation. The LEDs are glued to the inside of the glasses and connected to a length of audio cable that runs along one of the temples, over the operator's ear and plugs into the controller next to the headphones via a 1/8" stereo jack. The controller is a simple black enclosure with a power switch on one end and two output jacks on the other.
Just keep in mind that flashing lights can cause seizures in some people, so when sharing your brain machine with friends just make sure they're aware of what it is before they try it out so they can make an informed decision.
If you are prone to seizures yourself but you're interested in this device don't necessarily give up on it! I don't know much about seizures so I can't offer any advice but if you want to try the brain machine out talk with your doctor and see if you can work out a way to try it safely, or see if you can modify it to work with your own body. If you do modify the Brain Machine to work better for you in any way please let me know; I'd love to hear about it (Mr. Altman probably would like to hear as well, but I don't know how to get in touch with him).
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Signing UpStep 1Background: Sound and Light Machines
The Brain Machine is a simple, homemade "Sound and Light Machine." An SLM is a device to aid meditation by synchronizing your brain activity to external stimuli...flashing lights and pulsing sounds. The synchronization occurs through a principle called "entrainment"; light and audio are pulsed at frequencies associated with different levels of brain activity and your brain "locks on to" (or "trains on") the external stimulation.
You can read about the different levels of brain activity here on Wikipedia. When you first turn on the brain machine it generates output in the beta frequency range and works its way down to a meditative theta frequency. After keeping you there for a few minutes it speeds back up to bring you back to a wakeful state. The whole cycle takes 14 minutes and you can read more about it on the Makezine blog. That blog post describes how to build the basic Brain Machine and is the guide I used to build mine so this instructable will focus on the changes I made to make my Brain Machine look less outrageous.
As a side note, when reading about Theremins I heard of a phenomenon called locking that causes pendulums or electronic oscillators to lock to the same frequency when they start out running at similar enough frequencies. I don't know how related entrainment is, but it's an interesting similarity even if the principles are mostly unrelated.
You can read about the different levels of brain activity here on Wikipedia. When you first turn on the brain machine it generates output in the beta frequency range and works its way down to a meditative theta frequency. After keeping you there for a few minutes it speeds back up to bring you back to a wakeful state. The whole cycle takes 14 minutes and you can read more about it on the Makezine blog. That blog post describes how to build the basic Brain Machine and is the guide I used to build mine so this instructable will focus on the changes I made to make my Brain Machine look less outrageous.
As a side note, when reading about Theremins I heard of a phenomenon called locking that causes pendulums or electronic oscillators to lock to the same frequency when they start out running at similar enough frequencies. I don't know how related entrainment is, but it's an interesting similarity even if the principles are mostly unrelated.
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Oct 7, 2011. 6:32 PMDIYguy101
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if you have seizures you can just use the audio and not the lights. Also, Brain Wave Entrainment can not only calm you down, but wake you up, help you study, sleep, and (unproven) can help with ADHD; all depending on the frequency of the audio "waves." hope this helps!
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