Shaking the World
Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation as A Novel Sensation Interface
TARO MAEDA, HIDEYUKI ANDO, TOMOHIRO AMEMIYA,
MASAHIKO INAMI, NAOHISA NAGAYA, MAKI SUGIMOTO

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Nippon Telegraph Telephone Corp., Japans top telephone company, says it is developing the technology to perhaps make video games more realistic. But more sinister applications also come to mind.

I can envision it being added to militaries' arsenals of so-called "non-lethal" weapons.

A special headset was placed on my cranium by my hosts during a recent demonstration at an NTT research center. It sent a very low voltage electric current from the back of my ears through my head _ either from left to right or right to left, depending on which way the joystick on a remote-control was moved.

I found the experience unnerving and exhausting: I sought to step straight ahead but kept careening from side to side. Those alternating currents literally threw me off.

The technology is called galvanic vestibular stimulation _ essentially, electricity messes with the delicate nerves inside the ear that help maintain balance.