Couples at the Tokyo Game Show can try a new app for the iPad that checks if their brain waves are compatible. Brain Kiss uses a headset made by U.S. firm NeuroSky, which has a sensor that sits on the forehead and another that clips on the ear.
(Click to see a video of an actual Brain Kiss.)
The premise is simple. You and your partner put on a Bluetooth headset that reads your brain waves, activate your iPad, then look deep into each other's eyes. After a few seconds, the results come in -- and they don't necessarily match.
In one demonstration, a male spokesman came up as deeply attracted to one of the female attendants at his booth, while her iPad showed "no interest."
New hardware is becoming scarce at the Tokyo Game Show, which features only one of the big three console makers, Sony. Nintendo and Microsoft have focused more on E3, the large game show that runs in California during the summer.
One booth at the Tokyo show demonstrated an interesting game controller that clips onto a mobile phone, and uses Bluetooth to send commands. It is called the "smacon," short for smart controller.
The controller does make gaming easier than complicated touch patterns, and it can also work remotely, so you could conceivably plug your smartphone into your TV and use it as a game console.
On the down side, it currently works only with games that were designed for it, and it costs 12,800 yen (US$164), which is what a Nintendo 3DS costs, and close to the price of a PlayStation Vita.
There are several newcomer gaming companies at the Tokyo Game Show with large booths, but nearly all have targeted iOS or Android as their platform, with little interest in attempting to crack the hardware market.