Method and apparatus for encouraging physiological self-regulation through modulation of an operator's control input to a video game or training simulator

• US 6,450,820 B1
• Filed: 07/03/2000
• Issued: 09/17/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Eastern Virginia Medical School, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Government of the United States of America)
• Original Assignee: United States Of America As Represented By The Administrator Of The National Aeronautics And Space Administration
• Inventors: Palsson, Olafur S., Pope, Alan T., Harris, Randall L. Sr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rovnak, John Edmund
• Application Number:
  US09/612,412
• Time in Patent Office: 806 Days
• Field of Search: 434/29, 434/236, 434/237, 434/238, 434/307.R, 434/322, 434/323, 434/362, 345/952, 463/23, 463/36, 463/37, 463/38, 463/39
• US Class Current: 434/236
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/22 Games, e.g. card games

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for modulating the control authority (i.e., control function) of a computer simulation or game input device (e.g., joystick, button control) using physiological information so as to affect the user'"'"'s ability to impact or control the simulation or game with the input device. One aspect is to use the present invention, along with a computer simulation or game, to affect physiological state or physiological self-regulation according to some programmed criterion (e.g., increase, decrease, or maintain) in order to perform better at the game task. When the affected physiological state or physiological self-regulation is the target of self-regulation or biofeedback training, the simulation or game play reinforces therapeutic changes in the physiological signal(s).

Claims

1. A method for modifying the effect of an operator controlled input device on an interactive device to encourage the self-regulation of at least one physiological activity by the operator, the interactive device comprising a display area which depicts images, and apparatus for receiving at least one input from the operator controlled input device to thus permit the operator to control and interact with at least some of the depicted images, said method for modifying comprising the steps of:

measuring at least one physiological activity of the operator to obtain at least one physiological signal having a value indicative of the level of the at least one physiological activity;

modifying the ability of the operator to control and interact with at least some of the depicted images; and

said step of modifying the operator'"'"'s ability comprising modifying the input from the operator controlled input device in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the interactive device comprises software for controlling the displayed images, the input from the operator controlled device comprises control signals, and said step of modifying the input from the operator controlled input device comprises the step of:

transforming the control signals in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal, prior to the control signals being used by the device software.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein said step of transforming the control signals comprises modulating the magnitude of the effect of the control signals on the interactive device and, consequently, on the ability of the operator to control and interact with at least some of the depicted images, substantially proportionally to the level of the at least one physiological signal.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein said step of measuring at least one physiological activity comprises measuring at least one of:

autonomically-mediated physiological activity, and brainwave electrical activity.

5. The method according to claim 4 wherein the autonomic physiological activity comprises at least one of:

skin temperature;

skin conductance;

electrical activity of muscles;

blood flow;

heart rate;

heart rate variability; and

respiratory rate.

6. The method according to claim 4 wherein the brainwave electrical activity comprises at least one of:

event-related potentials; and

at least one brainwave frequency band;

the at least one brainwave frequency band comprising at least one of;

a) theta,

b) alpha,

c) SMR,

d) beta, and

e) gamma.

7. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of displaying the at least one physiological signal having a value indicative of the level of the at least one physiological activity.

8. The method according to claim 7 wherein said step of displaying comprises displaying and monitoring the physiological signal on a signal display system substantially separate from the interactive device.

9. The method according to claim 3, wherein said step of modulating the magnitude of the effect of the control signals on the interactive device and, consequently, on the ability of the operator to control and interact with at least some of the depicted images, substantially proportionally to the level of the at least one physiological signal comprises the device software registering at least one digital value derived from the at least one physiological signal, which is proportional to the magnitude of said at least one physiological signal.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising the step of registering the at least one physiological signal digital value by keeping the resistance input to the interactive device set to a constant and registering the voltage physiological input to the interactive device.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the control signals are converted to digital values, and said step of modulating the magnitude of the effect of the control signals on the interactive device and, consequently, on the ability of the operator to control and interact with at least some of the depicted images, substantially proportionally to the level of the at least one physiological signal comprises utilizing the physiological signal digital value to modify the control signal digital values prior to the control signal digital values being used by the device software.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein said step of utilizing the physiological signal digital value to modify the control signal digital values comprises utilizing terminate and stay resident (TSR) software to at least one of:

modulate the control signal digital values with the physiological signal digital value; and

time average the control signal digital values based on the physiological signal digital value.

13. The method according to claim 2, wherein the control signals have at least two position variables and said step of transforming the control signals in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal, prior to the control signals being used by the device software, comprises at least one of:

modulating at least one of the at least two position variables with an individual one of the at least one physiological signal; and

modulating at least another one of the at least two position variables with a combination of ones of the at least one physiological signal.

14. The method according to claim 2, wherein the at least one physiological signal represents a deviation from a baseline signal level.

15. The method according to claim 2, wherein the operator controlled input device comprises a joystick having a plurality of stick positions, the control signals comprise digital values, and said step of transforming the control signals in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal, prior to the control signals being used by the device software comprises the step of utilizing the values of the at least one physiological signal as an index of the number of joystick positions readings to average to get a filtered control signal digital value.

16. The method according to claim 2, wherein the operator controlled input device comprises control buttons, the at least one physiological signal comprises two physiological signals, and said step of transforming the control signals in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal, prior to the control signals being used by the device software includes at least one of:

utilizing at least one of the two physiological signals to enable and disable the control buttons; and

utilizing one of the two physiological signals to enable and disable the control buttons, and the other one of the two physiological signals to control the joystick.

17. The method according to claim 2, wherein the control signals and the at least one physiological signal each comprise digital values, and said step of transforming the control signals in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal, prior to the control signals being used by the device software comprises the step of:

utilizing terminate and stay resident (TSR) software to one of;

modulate the control signal digital values with the physiological signal digital value; and

time average the control signal digital values based on the physiological signal digital value.

63. The method according to claim 1 wherein said step of modifying the input from the operator controlled operator'"'"'s control input device in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal comprises modifying the operator'"'"'s control input in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal prior to the control input being received by the interactive device.

64. The method according to claim 63, wherein the interactive device comprises software for controlling the displayed images, the control input comprises control signals, and wherein said step of modifying the operator'"'"'s control input comprises the step of:

transforming the control signals in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal prior to the control signals being used by the interactive device software.

65. The method according to claim 64, wherein said step of transforming the control signals comprises modulating the magnitude of the effect of the control signals on the interactive device and, consequently, on the ability of the operator to control and interact with at least some of the depicted images, substantially proportionally to the level of the at least one physiological signal.

66. The method according to claim 63 wherein said step of measuring at least one physiological activity comprises measuring at least one of:

autonomically-mediated physiological activity, and

brainwave electrical activity.

67. The method according to claim 66 wherein the autonomic physiological activity comprises at least one of:

skin temperature;

skin conductance;

electrical activity of muscles;

blood flow;

heart rate;

heart rate variability; and

respiratory rate.

68. The method according to claim 66 wherein the brainwave electrical activity comprises at least one of:

event-related potentials; and

at least one brainwave frequency band;

the at least one brainwave frequency band comprising at least one of;

a) theta,

b) alpha,

c) SMR,

d) beta,

e) gamma, and

f) combinations of a)-e).

69. The method according to claim 63 further comprising the step of displaying the at least one physiological signal having a value indicative of the level of the at least one physiological activity.

70. The method according to claim 69 wherein said step of displaying comprises displaying and monitoring the at least one physiological signal on a signal display system substantially separate from the interactive device.

71. The method according to claim 65, wherein said step of modulating the magnitude of the effect of the control signals on the interactive device and, consequently, on the ability of the operator to control and interact with at least some of the depicted images, substantially proportionally to the strength of the at least one physiological signal, comprises one of a) or b):

a) the operator controlled input device receiving a powering voltage derived from the at least one physiological signal, which is proportional to the magnitude of the at least one physiological signal;

or

b) utilizing a joystick wired as a variable resistance;

modulating the amplitude of a randomly varying signal with the at least one physiological signal, and mixing the amplitude modulated randomly varying signal with a DC signal, and applying the resulting signal as the powering voltage to the joystick; and

wherein the mixing and modulating permits the joystick signal to the interactive device to vary with both the movement of the joystick and the randomly varying signal, the magnitude of the random variations being proportional to the magnitude of the physiological signal.

72. The method according to claim 71, wherein said step of measuring at least one physiological activity comprises the step of:

measuring the at least one physiological activity with a physiological signal conditioning system.

73. The method according to claim 72 wherein:

said-step of modulating the magnitude of the effect of the control signals on the ability of the operator to control and interact with at least some of the depicted images, substantially proportionally to the strength of the at least one physiological signal, comprises one of a) or b), comprises a); and

said step of modulating the magnitude of the effect of the control signals on the ability of the operator to control and interact with at least some of the depicted images, substantially proportionally to the level of the at least one physiological signal comprises;

utilizing a joystick wired as a voltage divider operatively connected to the physiological signal conditioning system; and

configuring and disposing the wired joystick to receive a signal from the physiological signal conditioning system and to convert the signal to a voltage divider wiper signal proportional to both the at least one physiological signal and the joystick position.

74. The method according to claim 73, further comprising the step of varying the digital value registered by the interactive device software, in response to the operator controlled input device signals, by keeping the resistance input to the interactive device set to a constant and varying the voltage input to the interactive device.

75. The method according to claim 74, wherein the interactive device comprises a game port and a computer and wherein said step of varying the digital value registered by the interactive device software, in response to the operator controlled input device signals, by keeping the resistance input to the interactive device set to a constant and varying the voltage, comprises amplifying, offsetting and scaling the wiper signal and creating a nonlinearity to counteract the nonlinearity of the computer game port.

76. The method according to claim 75, wherein the wired joystick comprises at least one button;

and said step of modifying the operator'"'"'s ability comprises controlling the at least one button such that the operator'"'"'s ability to control the at least one buttons is made contingent on producing criterion values of the at least one physiological signal.

77. The method according to claim 76, wherein said step of measuring at least one physiological activity of the operator to obtain at least one physiological signal having a value indicative of the level of the at least one physiological activity comprises:

utilizing a baseline deviation deriving system to determine the level of the at least one physiological signal from its deviation from a baseline signal level; and

wherein the baseline deviation deriving system is operatively connected to the physiological signal conditioning system and to the wired joystick.

78. The method according to claim 77 further comprises wherein:

the step of displaying the at least one physiological signal having a value indicative of the level of the physiological activity comprises utilizing a signal display system operatively connected to at least one of the baseline deviation deriving system, the physiological signal conditioning system and the at least one button, to permit the displaying of at least one of;

the at least one physiological signal;

the base line deviation signal; and

the criterion values for controlling the buttons.

79. The method according to claim 72, wherein said step of modulating the magnitude of the effect of the control signals on the ability of the operator to control and interact with at least some of the depicted images, substantially proportionally to the strength of the at least one physiological signal, comprises one of a) or b), comprises b).

80. The method according to claim 79, wherein:

said step of mixing and modulating comprises utilizing at least one of;

a mixer;

a voltage controlled amplifier; and

a voltage controlled filter.

81. The method according to claim 63, wherein the operator controlled input device comprises a game pad, and wherein said step of modifying the operator'"'"'s ability comprises modifying the operator'"'"'s control input from the game pad prior to the control input being received by the interactive device.

82. The method according to claim 81, wherein the interactive device comprises software for controlling the displayed images, the control input comprises control signals, and said step of modifying the operator'"'"'s control input comprises the step of:

transforming the control signals in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal, prior to the control signals being used by the device software.

83. The method according to claim 82, wherein said step of transforming the control signals comprises modulating the magnitude of the effect of the control signals on the interactive device and, consequently, on the ability of the operator to control and interact with at least some of the depicted images, substantially proportionally to the level of the at least one physiological signal.

84. The method according to claim 83, wherein the game pad comprises buttons, and the buttons comprise at least one of:

frequency modulated game pad buttons;

game pad buttons configured to be enabled and disabled; and

duration modulated game pad buttons.

85. The method according to claim 84 wherein:

said step of measuring at least one physiological signal comprises utilizing a physiological signal conditioning system; and

said method includes displaying on a display system at least one of;

the at least one physiological signal;

button enable and disable thresholds;

at least one duration modulation thresholds; and

at least one motion speed threshold level.

86. The method according to claim 84, wherein the game pad comprises frequency modulated game pad buttons, and wherein said step of transforming the control signals in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal, prior to the control signals being used by the device software comprises:

utilizing frequency modulation circuitry to produce a stream of pulses, the frequency of which is proportional to the level of the at least one physiological signal;

utilizing at least one relay; and

wherein the frequency modulation circuitry and the at least one relay are configured and disposed to alternately enable and disable the game pad buttons at a rate proportional to the frequency of the pulse stream.

87. The method according to claim 84, wherein the game pad comprises game pad buttons configured to be enabled and disabled, and wherein said step of transforming the control signals in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal, prior to the control signals being used by the device software comprises:

utilizing at least one of;

threshold detectors; and

relays; and

enabling and disabling the game pad buttons, with the threshold detectors and relays, contingent on producing criterion values of the at least one physiological signal.

88. The method according to claim 84, wherein the game pad comprises duration modulated game pad buttons, and wherein said step of transforming the control signals in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal, prior to the control signals being used by the device software comprises:

utilizing at least one of;

threshold detectors;

timers; and

relays; and

controlling the length of time a button is enabled by the threshold detectors and timers and relays to be proportional to criterion values of the at least one physiological signal.

89. The method according to claim 86, wherein said step of transforming the control signals in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal, prior to the control signals being used by the device software comprises:

modulating the amplitude of a randomly varying signal with the at least one physiological signal, and mixing the amplitude modulated randomly varying signal with a DC signal; and

transmitting the mixed and modulated signal to be transmitted to the frequency modulation circuitry.

90. The method according to claim 84, wherein the game pad comprises frequency modulated game pad buttons, and wherein said step of transforming the control signals in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal, prior to the control signals being used by the device software comprises:

modulating the duty cycle of the pulses of a periodic signal in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal; and

transferring the modulated pulses to the modulated game pad buttons to thus control the functioning of the modulated game pad buttons.

18. Apparatus for modifying the effect of an operator controlled input device on an interactive device, the interactive device comprising a display area, means for depicting images upon the display area, and means for receiving control input from the operator controlled input device, the control input permitting the operator to control and interact with at least some of the depicted images, said modifying apparatus comprising:

means for measuring at least one physiological activity of the operator;

means for converting the at least one measured physiological activity into at least one physiological signal having a value indicative of the level of said at least one physiological activity; and

means for modifying the operator'"'"'s control input in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal, to thus modify the operator'"'"'s ability to control and interact with at least one of the depicted images in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal.

19. The modifying apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the interactive device comprises software for controlling said displayed images, the control input comprises control signals, and wherein:

said modifying means comprises an arrangement to transform the control signals in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal prior to the control signals being used by the interactive device software.

20. The modifying apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said transforming arrangement comprises means for modulating the magnitude of the effect of the control signals on the interactive device and, consequently, on the ability of the operator to control and interact with at least some of the depicted images, substantially proportionally to the level of the at least one physiological signal.

21. The modifying apparatus according to claim 18 wherein the at least one physiological signal comprises at least one of:

autonomically-mediated physiological activity, and

brainwave electrical activity.

22. The modifying apparatus according to claim 21 wherein the autonomic physiological activity comprises at least one of:

skin temperature;

skin conductance;

electrical activity of muscle;

blood flow through the skin;

heart rate;

heart rate variability; and

respiratory rate.

23. The modifying apparatus according to claim 21 wherein the brainwave electrical activity comprises at least one of:

event-related potentials; and

at least one brainwave frequency band; and

said at least one brainwave frequency band comprises at least one of

a) theta,

b) alpha,

c) SMR,

d) beta,

e) gamma, and

f) combinations of a)-e).

24. The modifying apparatus according to claim 18 comprising:

means for displaying at least one signal; and

said displaying means being operatively connected to said means for converting the at least one measured physiological activity into at least one physiological signal having a value indicative of the level of said at least one physiological activity to permit the displaying of the at least one physiological signal.

25. The modifying apparatus according to claim 24 wherein:

said displaying means comprises a signal display system; and

said signal display system comprises a display screen substantially separate from the display area of the interactive device.

26. The modifying apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the device software registers at least one digital value derived from the at least one physiological signal which is proportional to the magnitude of said at least one physiological signal.

27. The modifying apparatus according to claim 26, comprising:

means for registering the at least one physiological signal digital value; and

said registering means comprising an arrangement to keep the resistance set to a constant and to register the voltage.

28. The modifying apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said control signals comprise digital values, and said transforming arrangement comprises means for utilizing said physiological signal digital value to modify the control signal digital value prior to said control signal digital value being used by the device software.

29. The modifying apparatus according to claim 28, wherein:

said means for utilizing said physiological signal digital value comprises utilizing terminate and stay resident (TSR) software; and

said terminate and stay resident software being configured to one of;

modulate said control signal digital values with said physiological signal digital value; and

time average said control signal digital values based on the physiological signal digital value.

30. The modifying apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the control signals have two position variables and said modifying apparatus comprises at least one of:

means for modulating at least one of the two position variables with an individual one of the at least one physiological signal; and

means for modulating at least one of the two position variables with a combination of ones of the at least one physiological signal.

31. The modifying apparatus according to claim 19, comprising means for determining the level of the at least one physiological signal based on its deviation from a baseline signal level.

32. The modifying apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the operator controlled input device comprises a joystick having a plurality of stick positions, the control signals comprise digital values, and said transforming arrangement comprises means for utilizing the values of the at least one physiological signal as an index of the number of joystick positions readings to average to get a filtered control signal digital value.

33. The modifying apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said means for measuring at least one physiological activity of the operator and said means for converting the at least one measured physiological activity into at least one signal having a value indicative of the level of said at least one physiological activity together forming at least a part of a physiological conditioning system.

34. The modifying apparatus according to claim 33, wherein the operator controlled input device comprises control buttons, and wherein:

said at least one physiological signal comprises at least two physiological signals; and

said transforming arrangement comprises means for utilizing at least one of said at least two physiological signals to enable and disable the control buttons and at least another one of said at least two physiological signals to control the joystick.

35. The modifying apparatus according to claim 19, wherein:

said transforming arrangement comprises terminate and stay resident (TSR) software; and

said terminate and stay resident software being configured to at least one of;

modulate said control signal digital value with said physiological signal digital value; and

time average said control signal digital value based on the physiological signal digital value.

36. Apparatus for modifying the effect of an operator controlled input device on an interactive device, the interactive device comprising a display area, means for depicting images upon the display area, and means for receiving input from the operator controlled input device, the input permitting the operator to control and interact with at least some of the depicted images, said modifying apparatus comprising:

means for measuring at least one physiological activity of the operator;

means for converting the at least one measured physiological activity into at least one signal having a value indicative of the level of said at least one physiological activity; and

means for modifying the input from the operator controlled input device prior to the input being received by the interactive device; and

said modifying means comprising means for modifying the input from the operator controlled input device in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal, to thus modify the operator'"'"'s ability to control and interact with at least one of the depicted images in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal.

37. The modifying apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the interactive device comprises software for controlling the displayed images, the input from the operator controlled input device comprises control signals, and wherein:

said modifying means comprises an arrangement to transform the control signals in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal prior to the control signals being used by the interactive device software.

38. The modifying apparatus according to claim 37, wherein said transforming arrangement comprises means for modulating the magnitude of the effect of the control signals on the interactive device and, consequently, on the ability of the operator to control and interact with at least some of the depicted images, substantially proportionally to the level of the at least one physiological signal.

39. The modifying apparatus according to claim 36 wherein the at least one physiological signal comprises at least one of:

autonomically mediated physiological activity; and

brainwave electrical activity.

40. The modifying apparatus according to claim 39 wherein the autonomic physiological activity comprises at least one of:

skin temperature;

skin conductance;

electrical activity of muscle;

blood flow;

heart rate;

heart rate variability; and

respiratory rate.

41. The modifying apparatus according to claim 39 wherein the brainwave electrical activity comprises at least one of:

event-related potentials; and

at least one brainwave frequency band; and

said at least one brainwave frequency band comprising at least one of;

a) theta,

b) alpha,

c) SMR,

d) beta,

e) gamma, and

f) combinations of a)-e).

42. The modifying apparatus according to claim 36 comprising:

means for displaying at least one signal;

said displaying means being operatively connected to said means for converting the at least one measured physiological activity into at least one signal having a value indicative of the level of said at least one physiological activity to permit the displaying of the at least one signal.

43. The modifying apparatus according to claim 42 wherein:

said displaying means comprises a signal display system; and

said signal display system comprises a display screen substantially separate from the display area of the interactive device.

44. The modifying apparatus according to claim 38, wherein said modifying means registers a digital value derived from the at least one physiological signal which is proportional to the magnitude of said at least one physiological signal.

45. The modifying apparatus according to claim 44, comprising:

said modifying means comprising means for registering the physiological signal digital value;

said measuring means for measuring at least one physiological activity comprises a physiological signal conditioning system; and

said registering means comprising an arrangement to keep the resistance set to a constant and to vary the voltage.

46. The modifying apparatus according to claim 44, wherein:

said measuring means for measuring at least one physiological activity comprises a physiological signal conditioning system.

47. The modifying apparatus according to claim 45, wherein:

said arrangement to keep the resistance set to a constant and to vary the voltage comprises;

a joystick wired as a voltage divider operatively connected to said physiological signal conditioning system; and

said wired joystick being configured and disposed to receive a signal from said physiological signal conditioning system and to convert said signal to a voltage divider wiper signal proportional to both said physiological signal and the joystick position.

48. The modifying apparatus according to claim 47, wherein said transforming arrangement further comprises means for amplifying, offsetting and scaling the wiper signal.

49. The modifying apparatus according to claim 48, wherein:

said wired joystick comprises at least one button; and

said transforming arrangement comprises means for controlling said at least one button such that the operator'"'"'s ability to control said at least one button is made contingent on producing criterion values of said at least one physiological signal;

said button controlling means comprises at least one of;

threshold detectors, and relays.

50. The modifying apparatus according to claim 49, wherein:

said converting means comprises a baseline deviation deriving system to determine the level of the at least one physiological signal from its deviation from a baseline signal level; and

said baseline deviation deriving system being operatively connected to said physiological signal conditioning system and to said wired joystick.

51. The modifying apparatus according to claim 50 comprising a signal display system operatively connected to at least one of said baseline deviation deriving system, said physiological signal conditioning system and said means for controlling said at least one button, to permit the displaying of at least one of:

the at least one physiological signal;

the base line deviation signal; and

the criterion values for controlling said at least one button.

52. The modifying apparatus according to claim 46, wherein said registering means comprises an arrangement to vary the resistances presented to the interactive device and to vary the voltages presented to the interactive device, comprising:

a joystick wired as a variable resistance;

means for modulating the amplitude of a randomly varying signal with said at least one physiological signal, and for mixing said amplitude modulated randomly varying signal with a DC signal;

the output of said mixing and modulating means being operatively connected as the supply voltage to said wired joystick such that the joystick signal to the interactive device varies with both the movement of the joystick and said randomly varying signal, the magnitude of the random variations being proportional to the magnitude of the physiological signal.

53. The modifying apparatus according to claim 52, wherein said mixing and modulating means comprises at least one of:

a mixer;

a voltage controlled amplifier; and

a voltage controlled filter.

54. The modifying apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the operator controlled input device comprises a game pad and wherein:

said modifying means is configured and disposed to be operatively connected to the game pad; and

said modifying means comprises a transforming arrangement to transform the control signals from the game pad, in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal, prior to the control signals being received by the interactive device.

55. The modifying apparatus according to claim 54, wherein said transforming arrangement comprises means for modulating the magnitude of the effect of the control signals on the interactive device and, consequently, on the ability of the operator to control and interact with at least some of the depicted images, substantially proportionally to the level of the at least one physiological signal.

56. The modifying apparatus according to claim 55, wherein the game pad comprises at least one of:

frequency modulated game pad buttons;

game pad buttons configured to be enabled and disabled; and

duration modulated game pad buttons.

57. The modifying apparatus according to claim 56, wherein:

said measuring means for measuring at least one physiological signal comprises a physiological signal conditioning system;

said modifying apparatus comprises a signal display system operatively connected to said transforming arrangement and said physiological signal conditioning system; and

said signal display system being configured to display at least one of;

the at least one physiological signal;

game pad button enable and disable thresholds;

duration modulation thresholds; and

motion speed threshold level.

58. The modifying apparatus according to claim 56, wherein the game pad comprises frequency modulated game pad buttons, and wherein:

said transforming arrangement comprises;

frequency modulation circuitry for producing a stream of pulses, the frequency of which is proportional to the level of said at least one physiological signal; and

at least one relay; and

said frequency modulation circuitry and said at least one relay being configured and disposed to alternately enable and disable said game pad buttons at a rate proportional to the frequency of said pulse stream.

59. The modifying apparatus according to claim 56, wherein the game pad comprises game pad buttons configured to be enabled and disabled, and wherein:

said transforming arrangement comprises at least one of;

threshold detectors; and

relays; and

said threshold detectors and relays being configured and disposed to enable and disable said game pad buttons contingent on producing criterion values of said at least one physiological signal.

60. The modifying apparatus according to claim 56, wherein the game pad comprises duration modulated game pad buttons, and wherein:

said transforming arrangement comprises at least one of;

threshold detectors;

timers; and

relays; and

said threshold detectors and timers and relays being configured and disposed to control the length of time a button is enabled proportional to adjustable criterion values of said at least one physiological signal.

61. The modifying apparatus according to claim 58, wherein said means for modifying the operator'"'"'s control input in response to changes in the at least one physiological signal, comprises:

means for mixing and modulating, for modulating the amplitude of a randomly varying signal with said at least one physiological signal, and for mixing said amplitude modulated randomly varying signal with a DC signal; and

said mixing and modulating means being operatively connected to said frequency modulation circuitry to permit the mixed and modulated signal to be transmitted to said frequency modulation circuitry.

62. The modifying apparatus according to claim 56, wherein the game pad comprises frequency modulated game pad buttons, and wherein:

said transforming arrangement comprises;

means for modulating the duty cycle of the pulses of a periodic signal in response to changes in said at least one physiological signal;

said modulating means comprising a duty cycle modulator; and

said modulating means being operatively connected to said frequency modulated game pad buttons to permit the transfer of said modulated pulses to said modulated game pad buttons to thus control the functioning of said modulated game pad buttons.