On one hand, a mind-controlled Light Saber is too dorky for words. On the other hand, to play Jedi with a toy that you have to focus your mind to use is Geek Chic. I would imagine that the comfort level playing with this thng would be a three-dimensional matrix of age, sex (not male or female, but if the user gets laid or not), and love of Star Wars.

A convincing twin of Darth Vader stalks the beige cubicles of a Silicon Valley office, complete with ominous black mask, cape and light saber. But this is no chintzy Halloween costume. It’s a prototype, years in the making, of a toy that incorporates brain wave-reading technology.

Behind the mask is a sensor that touches the user’s forehead and reads the brain’s electrical signals, then sends them to a wireless receiver inside the saber, which lights up when the user is concentrating. The player maintains focus by channeling thoughts on any fixed mental image, or thinking specifically about keeping the light sword on. When the mind wanders, the wand goes dark.

The really cool things will be the mind-operated hacks that will come from this.