Inhibition, a C.H.I.P.-powered electroencephalogram (EEG) headset, is the latest work of Marinos Koutsomichalis, a creative technologist and scholar interested in the interplay between humans and machines.
Commissioned by Onassis Cultural Centre and Ars Electronica for the Hybrids group exhibition, the piece is on display in the Athens, Greece through the end of January 2017.
EEG is traditionally known as a medical test for the human brain that’s been around since the 1920s. Electrodes are placed on the head to monitor and record voltage fluctuations between neurons in the brain. Doctors use this data to help diagnose abnormalities in brain functioning that could suggest preconditions for epileptic seizures or indicate the patient has sustained a head trauma. It’s a medical technology that reveals fundamental brain health, but recently there is a crop of new applications for EEG, such as Inhibition .