A headset which reads electrical impulses in the brain will allow gamers to interact with virtual worlds merely by 'thinking and feeling'.

The Epoc headset - which is due to go on sale later this year - works by reading a player's facial expressions as well as basic thoughts, such as 'lift' or 'drop', and transferring them to their character in the game.

For instance if a player winks, smiles or grimaces while wearing the device, similar expressions would be seen on the person's character - or avatar - in the game. Basic emotions, such as happiness, can also be detected, the company which makes the headset said.

The headset, which has been developed by the San Fransisco-based firm Emotiv, relies on a technology known as non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG), which reads neural activity within the brain.

It is hoped that the device will make the emotional responses of characters to situations in games and virtual worlds more realistic. "If you laughed or felt happy after killing a character in a game then your virtual buddy could admonish you for being callous," Tan Le, the president of Emotiv, said.

So far, the headset can detect more than 30 different expressions, actions and emotions, including smiling, winking, raised eyebrows, laugter and shock. It can also pick up more basic emotions such as excitement and frustration, and - perhaps the most ingenious application - can command a character to perform an action merely by the player thinking of it.

Among the actions it understands are push, pull, lift, drop, and rotate.

"We've created a brain computer interface that reads electrical impulses in the brain and translates them into commands that a video game can accept and control the game dynamically," Ms Le told the BBC.

The Epoc, which connects with all the gaming consoles as well as PC, attaches to a player's head at 16 sensor points, and has a wireless capability as well as a gyroscope, which measures movement much in the manner of Nintendo's Wii handset. It will cost $299 (£153).

Techniques which measure the activity of the brain's 100 billion or so nerve cells date back nearly a century, but it is only since the 1970s that EEG has been used to enable a person to communicate with a computer using their brain.

Emotiv said its headset would be the first consumer-focused EEG device to be used for gaming. "It doesn't require a large net of electrodes, or a technician to calibrate or operate it - and it doesn't cost tens of thousands of dollars," Ms Le said.

The company is also working with the likes of IBM to develop business applications for the technology.

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