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51 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
nice toy
You put the headset on your head...make sure the contacts are in the right place(even fit a 8 year old's head). Then its easy in the first level. Just to start counting by 2's to make the ball move up the tube(will not be that easy in later levels). Our house is crazy and someone would wait until the person had the ball pretty high up and then say something funny and it...
Published 11 months ago by Ender
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92 of 102 people found the following review helpful:
Force Trainer is a Force Fit
We were very excited to receive The Force Trainer as a gift. I'm all for bio-feedback and have paid for EEG therapy for our son who has ADD. Unfortunately, it does not work as advertised and appears to fit in the catagory of "you see what you want to see." Five family members (adults and children) used the product and had the same result: no matter what your state of...
Published 9 months ago by Disappointed Dad
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92 of 102 people found the following review helpful:
Force Trainer is a Force Fit, November 12, 2009
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Star Wars Science - Force Trainer (Toy)
We were very excited to receive The Force Trainer as a gift. I'm all for bio-feedback and have paid for EEG therapy for our son who has ADD. Unfortunately, it does not work as advertised and appears to fit in the catagory of "you see what you want to see." Five family members (adults and children) used the product and had the same result: no matter what your state of mind, the trainer advances you through the first "Padwan" level automatically. Each phrase and ball movement is identical from person to person. It seems all it takes is a live person to make the ball move up and down.
The "Jedi Knight" and "Jedi Master" levels were similar: the ball and voice seemed to proceed in either a pre-programmed or a random pattern. There is no way to tell whether your brain waves are affecting the ball's movement or whether it is a programmed random change in the fan speed. You should be able to check this with the "free play mode" where ball movement and light indicators are supposed to reflect your brain wave patterns. However, in our unit the ball stayed in the middle position no matter how hard we "concentrated" or "used our feelings." The lights only blinked on and off in a regular pattern.
One other minor point: while it was cute at first to hear Yoda quote lines from the movies, he grew tiresome after the fifth time he quoted the same line, "Reach out with your feelings! Use the Force. Do or do not, there is no try."
All in all we were VERY disappointed in this item. And would highly caution everyone to stay away from it. It is overpriced at best and intentionally deceptive to children at worst. My son was so proud to achieve Padwan, I didn't have the heart to tell him it worked the same for everyone. They all got frustrated and quit at the Jedi Knight level as no amount of concentration or relaxation could move the ball in a predictable way.
The Trainer must measure some sort of brain activity or skin conductivity, however, it does not work as advertised. I do not see how the manufacturer will avoid some kind of consequence for putting this out with the claims it makes. I suppose they can say, "Not everyone is cut out to be a Jedi."
I am sure some will use the toy and see exactly what they want to see. They will thrill to hear Yoda and R2D2 verbally pat them on the back. If this item sells, as it surely must with the slick marketing and idea that "you too can be a Jedi Knight", I believe it has more to do with P.T. Barnum ("There's a sucker born every minute") than The Force.
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51 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
nice toy, October 2, 2009
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Star Wars Science - Force Trainer (Toy)
You put the headset on your head...make sure the contacts are in the right place(even fit a 8 year old's head). Then its easy in the first level. Just to start counting by 2's to make the ball move up the tube(will not be that easy in later levels). Our house is crazy and someone would wait until the person had the ball pretty high up and then say something funny and it was always funny to see the ball just drop from lack of concentration.
Well I had one for about 3 weeks before I took it back for the money. It was fun for about 2 days then even with 6 people in the house it sat pretty much unused for a couple weeks. That said there are 3 levels. The first level even the 8 year old beat. Second level was pretty cool and was the one that was the most fun. Third level was just to hard (understandably) for anyone in the house to beat even at the end of 3 weeks. This was still cool because it gave something to shoot for.
For the $130 this thing was in the store it was not worth it unless you have people over often. Then it would be a great conversation piece/toy on the coffee table. Very sturdy no real parts to loose and very close to five stars if nothing else because it seems the first of a kind. The ball just goes up and down the tube though. I will try the Mind Flex that seems a little more entertaining and less expensive hopefully next month.
Great product. Definitely worth playing with.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
Fun for the audience it's made for., December 12, 2009
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Star Wars Science - Force Trainer (Toy)
This is all that my son asked for for Xmas or his 9th birthday. At the time we asked him, it was well over $100. But he kept asking & it got decent write ups so the search began. I purchased his for just around $75 and it was a good deal at the time, I see that now on Amazon it goes for half that now. Such is life!
So he opened it last night and is still wearing the wireless headset this morning. He is intregued! The adults found it interesting but not for long. We adults can be finicky! But my 9 yo loves it, and that's all that matters. Whether it actually measures the beta waves in your brain or it's just completing a circuit, he doesn't care. It seems to work for him though. He can make the ball go up & down at will, at it was intertaining to hear his baby brother shout "up!" "up!" as big brother made it go up. Same with down.
All that matters to me is if it puts a smile on my son's face, and it does. He loves Star Wars and he loves this! I gave it 5 stars because if you ask my son, it is perfect. And that's the audience it was meant for.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
This toy DOES work! READ HERE FOR HOW TO DO IT!!!, January 6, 2010
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Star Wars Science - Force Trainer (Toy)
I'm 18 years old and my friend and I, instead of studying for exams, spent 2 hours on this thing. It took me 20 minutes to get it to do what I wanted, but you're absolutely incorrect if you think this thing is random. It takes exactly what Yoda says, having a calm mind. Seriously, you just have to focus really hard on the section of the tube you want it to go to and if you're capable of maintaining that focus it'll work. I read about it on several scientific websites. It involves the device reading the excitement of your brainwaves. When it's in the right spot, you subconciously say "that's right" in your head and it'll stay there if you can keep focused. It'll also go up to the very top level if you focus very hard on something else, generally to the point of "daydreaming". When I thought of tons of random things though like going from staring at the ball to thinking "basketball, chocolate, girls" the ball would drop. If the lights are blinking on the device, that means that the probes don't have a good connection to your skin.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Ingenious!, December 31, 2009
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Star Wars Science - Force Trainer (Toy)
I first heard about this toy about a year ago - in articles on EEG and new, creative uses for EEG training (generally referred to as neurofeedback). To be honest, I wasn't aware that it had been released and came across it at Costco, which is currently selling it for just $33 (really)! So, I thought I'd buy one just to fool around with it - especially since I'm quite familiar with neurofeedback and also have my own eeg machine to use of home-training. While the "real" EEG device is far more sophisticated than this toy, I understood the premise behind how the Force Trainer works.
As neurofeedback requires patience and multiple attempts before you can begin driving your own brainwaves (especially since you don't "feel" anything), I was prepared for this to be somewhat difficult. To begin, I let my boy try it out first (kids usually respond quicker than adults, especially at first) and he was able to use "the force" within ten to fifteen minutes - now, he can do it much faster. So, after seeing his success, I gave it a try. Again, it was difficult at first but, with practice, I too was very successful!
I strongly suspect that some of those who have left negative reviews have done so because they honestly don't know what to expect and give up too quickly. At the moment, I'm looking for information on what frequencies are being trained (again, I suspect beta waves - probably those in the low beta range [SMR]). Assuming the SMR (sensory motor rhythm) is being trained, a relaxed but focused state is required. It's also possible that slower brainwaves may also be used by this toy (particualarly alpha waves) as those indicative of a relaxed state. I've got to look around a bit more to find out what the Force Trainer uses for their target brainwave(s). My recommendation is that if you are not having success with this toy, keep trying as you will eventually be successful (and have a lot of fun, once you are).
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
REALLY WORKS! READ THIS FIRST!, January 8, 2010
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Star Wars Science - Force Trainer (Toy)
This toy is wonderful. Sure, it requires quite a few batteries but those that say that "there are no brain waves in my hand"... chances are they were using it near a strong source of radiation (like a computer) that confuses the machine and makes it think it's your brainwaves. NO, it's not a set of pre-decided places the ball goes. When you restart a round, it makes a bit easy and starts up but it'll drop almost instantly (after going up a few inches) if you can't hold it up. The easiest mode by far in my opinion is free-play, it makes you focus on keeping the ball up (though they should add different difficulties to freeplay, I think) since the training mode can get annoying since it seems to stop working occasionally if you can't get the ball to move for a long time (Then you must restart the round and it'll work, which takes one second).
Just want to say, if you find the Yoda catch phrases annoying (or even notice them to much of a degree), you are either extremely tempremental or (more likely) you aren't focusing as you should. It's funny how toys like this are easier for kids than for adults, even though they require concentration. What are we coming to? :P
Side note: There are three ways to play this, as I see it. One, just try to focus hard or put yourself in stress. This way is not fun and doesn't teach as much, though I suppose it works on your concentration. Two, focus on getting the ball up. This is tons of fun and gets your concentration up. Three, convince yourself the force is real. You'll be very talented at this game and have a lot of fun, but... I don't know, take this one with a grain of salt.. it must be fun to imagine the force is real as you play this though (and know it's not after).
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Don't give up, there's a "New Hope", February 23, 2010
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Star Wars Science - Force Trainer (Toy)
This is a really cool toy for a kid. This is the future of toys. I waited to give it to my son after his birthday party... you can't just open it out of the box and master it and didn't want everyone crowding him because it's not that type of toy. It's raising and lowering the beta wave output of your brain just by thinking differently, which we don't consciously do. That is we don't link it normally to any activity (except a heart attack!) until you start to use this toy.
I must note that at first my son did his best (masters all 3 levels and all 5 sublevels) right before bedtime or right after waking up. He'll use his hand as a focus point, raising it, lowering it, etc.; when a friend is around he's learning to do it and ignore distractions. He now can even do pretty well while his sister is making fun of him.
It's teaching him concentration, and to not react as much to outside interferences. He actually plays differently in some situations; he's not distracted as much at all.
This device gives feedback on your mind, so yes, it does "read" your mind as much as a simple device can. It detects beta levels, the easiest to detect and most common ones that don't need intrusive sensors. If you are the excited type or anxious it'll peak the ball at the top. If your brain is on overload it won't work. If you are taking any stimulants (especially ADHD drugs) this won't work, you'll peg it. Interruptions play havoc. If you are really relaxed (artificially) it won't do anything. If you are taking "beta-blockers" this won't really work quite right either.
For those adults with problems, c'mon and think for a second: adults produce more beta waves than children (look at the intended age) and some are more stressed than others so don't be surprised if you can't control it right off the bat. I put it on freeplay and was talking with my wife and it'd get pegged. You need to be calm, the contacts need to be clean and your skin clean, and you need to be alone without distractions and clear your mind. I mean clear it.
This isn't telekinesis. This is a beta-wave feedback device.
Besides being a toy, I wear it while coding or data mining and it's interesting to "hear" the machine move depending on what I'm concentrating on. (Get a 9v transformer, I chew up the batteries by doing this)
I can see this turning into a multi-person game someday soon.
My suggestions: Buy the 9v transformer. If the headset doesn't make a difference if it's on or off, *it's broken*, it should flash on the base and the headset if there's no contact. Make sure your skin is clean, no lotions. Clean the contacts off with something gentle and not oily.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Should Have Been Designed Better, April 4, 2010
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Star Wars Science - Force Trainer (Toy)
I got this as a biofeedback machine, thinking it would be nice to learn how to control brainwaves. You can do that with this technology. I couldn't figure out how the thing was supposed to operate. It took the tech support lady about 15 minutes of frustration to get it right. The thing is not straight forward. There are basically two modes: free operation, and doing the things Yoda tells you to do in sequence. You can't just push a button or switch to select modes. You have to push buttons and hold for somewhat random lengths of time. You can't tell when you've selected a particular mode, you just have to wait and see. It's really annoying. The tech support lady eventually deduced that 7 seconds was the proper length of time I need to hold down the button to make one selection, rather than the 5 seconds described vaguely in the manual.
Did I mention Yoda? His voice narrates the thing for you. He's always talking at you, encouraging you, and repeating cliches from the movie. Once again, it's really annoying. If only the thing had a Shut Yoda Up button.
I learned how to control the height of the ball in the tube by varying my state of mental concentration. That was nice. I could learn to be a lot better at it, and would like to do that. However the thing has sat unused now for months, because I just never feel like listening to Yoda's annoying blabbering. Don't get me wrong, I like Yoda in the movies. He's a great character, but who wants to listen to the same dozen recordings of his voice repeated ad nauseam while they're trying to learn mental control?
I really can't imagine why the engineers didn't put simple switches on this thing to control modes and levels, instead of the difficult and imprecise system they ended up with. I do know why they thought Yoda would be a good idea. Personally I think they got that one wrong too. But even if Yoda might make the thing more attractive to some kids, I think a simple Yoda-Off switch would have made the thing a whole lot more usable for most people.
I would have given the thing a 5, if they'd put simple control switches on it, and included some way to turn Yoda off.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
dont waste your money, March 7, 2010
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Star Wars Science - Force Trainer (Toy)
I got this for my kid. and when he was setting it up he left the room for a minute.
Well the thing worked on it's own.
I would recomend this for a party. I bet it's fun to use around drunk people who have no clue about it.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Too Fun!, February 26, 2010
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Star Wars Science - Force Trainer (Toy)
I purchased this for my son for Christmas. When I first saw it, I was disappointed. It was made of cheap plastic and was very lightweight. The headset, though, is better quality than the rest of it. The ball inside the trainer tube is a ping pong ball with designs on it. The base is very lightweight cheap plastic. The sound quality of the small speaker isn't so great either.
But we were still anxious to see if it worked. It took a bit to figure out how to get it to connect from the wireless headset to the base, but once we figured it out, it's easy enough to get it to do it again and again.
Once we got it working, we were hooked. Literally, we spent hours playing with it and going through all the paces. After awhile, I ended up with a headache and had to stop, but my daughter and my son both played with it for hours more. My best friend spent several hours playing with it too.
The biggest complaint is that there is no way to save your levels. After while, so much 'concentration' to get the ball to rise to the top makes my eyes and head ache, and I want to walk away, but if you stop playing and turn it off, the machine resets with no way to save progress and you have to go through all the paces again to get up to the Jedi Knight level. Also, there is a 'humming' sound the speakers purposely makes, and it is very annoying. You can't control the volume, for two reasons 1) the game needs to tell you through Yoda's voice what level to move the ball up to and 2) there is no volume control. The humming part that sounds like a machine humming needs to be removed. Very annoying.
All in all, not bad for a bit of fun, but as cheap as it was constructed, 70 bucks was very expensive for what it is. My son wants one that is somehow tied into one of his gaming systems.
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