Recollecting BrainBall™: Ballistic Brilliance
BrainBall™ is a game played by two people where you must relax under pressure to win. A ball on the table moves based on the player’s relaxation. Whoever can maintain the greater EEG alpha activity, a measure of a few minutes to move a ball to the opponent’s goal wins the game.
The History and Making
Dick Moberg (left) and Gary Trapuzzano (right) playing
BrainBall™ was invented at the Smart Studio of the interactive Institute in Sweden in 1999. I saw it several years after that in Germany and flew out to Sweden to meet the project manager, Magnus Jonsson. We agreed to commercialize the table since we had expertise in EEG.
Gary Trapuzzano building the first-ever table!
We trademarked the name BrainBall,™ but then the group in Sweden decided they wanted to make the table. instead, we pitched the idea to a company, Aspect Medical Systems, to promote their EEG-based depth of anesthesia monitor. They loved the idea. we made a table ands showed it at many venues around the U.S. and Europe.
Sheila Modgin playing back in 2002
BrainBall™ Today
The game has emerged as a tool for educating about multimodal monitoring, spearheaded by a commitment to finding a balance between innovation and fun. The table at the Moberg Analytics Intergalactic Headquarters in Philadelphia is the original one that traveled all around the world. Today, the game is very popular at the office and played often, particularly at community events like holiday parties:
