by Evan Rodgers|August 17, 2012

Using a gamut of specialized tests, scientists at Berkley, Oxford, and the University of Geneva have developed a way to extract data from your mind using an off-the-shelf brainwave scanning device. The researchers placed an Emotive EPOC scanner on 28 test subjects’ heads, then measured their subconscious reactions to stimuli. When the subjects were shown nine random maps plus one map including their home address, measurements of the subconscious signals in the subjects’ brain activity revealed the location of their home with 60 percent accuracy.

The scientists theorize that their methodology could also systematically extract where a person banks, their PIN number, and other private knowledge. However, there is little chance that consumer brainwave scanning devices could be used maliciously — a hacker would have to socially engineer you into systematically thinking about your private data while you wear the scanner. While the collaborative research done by the aforementioned universities sounds remarkably similar to the psychological video games of Ender’s Game, we’re probably a few decades away from having our deepest thoughts and personalities intuited by machines.