Yoda Replaced as Jedi Instructor by Ping Pong Ball

Meet the Force Trainer. It’s makers would have you believe that you can use it to sharpen your “Force skills,” by learning to manipulate–solely through the power of your midichlorians will–a ping pong ball up and down the tube. From USA Today:

The Force Trainer (expected to be priced at $90 to $100) comes with a
headset that uses brain waves to allow players to manipulate a sphere
within a clear 10-inch-tall training tower, analogous to Yoda and Luke
Skywalker’s abilities in the Star Wars films.
…
In the Force Trainer, a wireless headset reads
your brain activity, in a simplified version of EEG medical tests, and
the circuitry translates it to physical action. If you focus well
enough, the training sphere, which looks like a ping-pong ball, will
rise in the tower.

A state of deep concentration is needed to
achieve a Force-full effect. “When you concentrate, it activates the
training remote,” says Frank Adler of toymaker Uncle Milton Industries,
which is creating the Trainer. “There is a flow of air that will move
the (ball). You can actually feel like you are in a zone.”

Jesus, it’s terrifying how much I would have wanted one of these when I was a kid. I almost want to beat myself up retroactively. Of course, as a grown-up, I know the feeling of being one with an all-powerful, all-encompassing energy that flows through us, surrounds us and binds the energy together is much cheaper to attain:

Mmm. All-encompassing! (Via Geekologie)