Zen and the Art of Cyberdeck Hacking

We have certainly seen more than our fair share of cyberdecks here at Hackster News. More often than not, these machines are primarily a single-board computer, and possibly a display, fitted into a very cool, custom, futuristic-looking case. Some of them are really spectacular builds, but they do not quite live up to the “cyberdeck” moniker. The original inspiration for these systems comes from the novel Neuromancer, in which people would “jack in” to a virtual reality world called the matrix, via their cyberdecks, with a fictional neural interface. Hobbyist projects, of course, lack this neural interface.

That is understandable considering that no technology in the real world yet matches the capabilities of that fictional device. However, YouTuber The Civitas Universe came up with an idea that may be the next best thing — a cyberdeck with an integrated brain activity sensing headband. No, it will not enable you to jack in to the matrix, but it is useful for something like a mind-controlled smart home setup or a health and wellness application. Those are some worthy applications for a futuristic computer that looks like it was built with alien technology.

The build is centered around a Muse 2 brain activity sensing headband. This device has a set of four electroencephalography sensors that sit on top of the forehead to measure electrical activity from distinct regions of the brain. This is a very coarse, low-resolution way to do the job, but at least it is better than Doc Brown’s mind-reading helmet. It will not reveal your deepest thoughts, but it can give a rough idea as to whether you are concentrating on things like decision-making or language processing tasks, or if you are focused or relaxed.

The headband connects to a Raspberry Pi 5 single-board computer that is inside a very cool, futuristic-looking, 3D-printed case. A Pimoroni HyperPixel 4.0 Hi-Res Display, with 800x480-pixel resolution, is also integrated into the case to display both traces depicting the brain’s electrical activity and a textual description of what the brain region being monitored is primarily used for. An Adafruit MacroPad RP2040 Starter Kit was used as an input device, so that a user can select which region of the brain they want to monitor.

After building the cyberdeck, The Civitas Universe needed to find an application for it that would really show off what it can do. The first thought was mind control of a light bulb, but that seemed too gimmicky and beneath the dignity of such a build. Then inspiration struck — The Civitas Universe likes to set time aside for meditation, but is really bad at it. With a mind that always seems to be racing, meditation is just a no-go.

To get better, The Civitas Universe decided to gamify the experience. A Bluetooth light bulb was programmed to be controlled by the cyberdeck, with the brightness level being determined by the user’s brain activity. The more calm their mind, the dimmer the glow. The goal is to turn it off, and keep it off, which you can only do if you are zen enough.

According to The Civitas Universe, this system works surprisingly well. It has led to improved sleep, and better memory and focus. This setup appears to be more than just another pretty-looking cyberdeck. What would you build if you had one of your own?