With the headband firm over our foreheads, we felt like Professor Xavier operating the Cerebro, his personal telepathic amplifier. But what came first to our mind was the sage advice from master Yoda: “you must unlearn what you have learned”. The guidance given by the old Jedi to Luke Skywalker on the swamp world of Dagobah was never that appropriate. The first sensation using the NIA is one of complete awkwardness and, at the same time, astonishment at the ability to control a game with your head. There’s a steep learning curve of several days and despite we having had played Team Fortress 2 with the NIA for two weeks, we feel we haven’t mastered all its potential yet.

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Figure 7: NIA on our head

It’s hard to explain the whole experience. It’s really bizarre to shoot your virtual gun by making faces at the screen or guiding your gunslinger by either relaxing your thoughts or getting “angry”. How about to dodge an incoming missile by looking to the side? You really feel in the game – the immersion is way bigger than the conventional keyboard and mouse experience. An observation is in order: OCZ states that the NIA doesn’t replace the keyboard and mouse, but in fact it adds to the game play enjoyment. As a matter of fact, we did test the device alongside our trustworthy friends, but we kept their usage to a minimum to better appreciate the novelty.

During the test some mistaken reactions made us frustrated, like falling from a platform due to the NIA misreading our intentions (or due to a wrong muscle twitch from our part). And there’s also a problem that apparently OCZ never though about: since speaking involves moving the face, there’s no way to use a headset to speak with your teammates, just like eating and drinking while playing is also out of the question.