Live Concert’s Light Show Powered by Musician’s Mind

Instead of entrusting the light show to a technician, Mickey Hart, former percussionist for the Grateful Dead, makes sure that he is the one in control — by controlling the lights using his brainwaves.

Hart dons a black cap studded with electrodes that pulls electroencephalography (EEG) data from his brain, which, in turn, drive the light show at his concerts. Images of the musician’s brain also soar 40 feet in the air and change color to reflect different types of brain waves detected by the EEG.

Hart was led to brain science because of his grandmother’s dementia. For years, she didn’t seem to recognize him and largely stopped speaking unless he played his drums for her, something which he said caused her to say his name. Read more...