This is my own version of the “Brain Machine” as published in Make Magazine vol 10.

Basicially the combination of flashing lights in your eyes, and playing binaural beats into your ears is supposed to entrain your brainwaves to those of a relaxed state, leaving you feeling mellow and rested. I can’t really describe exactly what it’s like, but it’s not just snake-oil.

The project as described in make uses a repurposed mini-POV kit, with replacement firmware. I already had some
atmega-48 chips and a programmer, so I just built it on a small piece of perf-board.

The case is a small project case I had in my box ‘o parts, the frame is just a pair of safety glasses, the LED’s are held in place with hot-glue, which also diffuses the light.

I’m pleased with the end result, overall a fun evening project.

One Response to “Brain Machine”

  1. Is this the first time you’ve built one of these? I remember you told me about it sometime around 1992 or 1993 when you had plans for a computer-controlled one.

    Of course the big question is, how awesome do you look when you’re wearing them?

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