The Mind Control Glasses That Ended in Lawsuits

Thank you to Perplexity for sponsoring this video! Check out Perplexity for all of your holiday shopping at perplexity.yt....
Warning: This video contains flashing lights which may not be suitable for photosensitive epilepsy. Flashing Lights Begin (6:46) Skip Flashing Lights (6:59)
Can a pair of flashing retro tech glasses and some CDs sync your brainwaves, train your psychic abilities, teach you Spanish, unlock your subconscious, and help the CIA win the Cold War?
A project with a nearly 40-year history suggests that they might.
Dane Spotts and Zygon have spent decades blending their scientific visions of unleashing brain potential with a winding journey through technology. Zygon called it “entrainment,” but critics call it pseudoscience.
The SuperMind system claims to help you communicate with whales, meditate, and mirror a near death experience - and some people love it. But from the back pages of 1990s Popular Science issues to more than a dozen lawsuits, the reality of expanding consciousness, rewiring your brain, and boosting psychic powers is even more complex than it sounds.
#science #mindgames #popularscience #brainwaves

[@777idkineedausername]

Kevin: if you have photo epilepsy, skip ahead. Guess we'll find out then.

[@warrior3456_]

same

[@LagrangePoint0]

Me too, lol

[@BrickTsar]

Let zygons be zygons - people never run out of ways to separate other people from their money. Love the deep dive into obvious scam.

[@deadpiratetattoo2015]

If you fell for this crap you deserve to be scammed..

[@BrickTsar]

@ indeed

[@gamerboyofficalyt]

@@BrickTsar Agreed

[@jasminegoin5006]

Pretty sure it's bye gone's be bye gone's because zygone is cold sore treatment

[@abel4556]

The Zygon branding name sounds like an evil corporation from an old James Bond movie.

[@Nooticus]

Really excellent video, the production and topics on this channel are amazing. Also, the video was perfectly paced!

[@BloodDripss]

another instant classic. i sincerely hope you continue to make these incredible tech history videos for us!! i never have heard of "Popular Science" before you featured on this channel, and i am so glad you have been able to showcase this history to us all! thank you once again Kevin. great work dude!!! much love to Team Popular Science!

[@garrisonfjord]

Back in the late 90s I used to make animations in flash that were meant to give me subliminal messages. Stuff like, you're cool, you're hip, you're confident. It didn't work. Or did it? It didn't.

[@ryelor123]

The only way stuff like that can work is if your subconscious agrees with the message. Your subconscious is far smarter and more aware of things than you realize and its objective is to protect you in your environment.

[@timmowarner]

I think you're cool and hip.

[@JankyBruv]

​@@ryelor123

[@garrisonfjord]

@timmowarner 😃🤗

[@willthethrill2078]

These things remind me of the lucid dreaming goggles that flash when they think you are in REM

[@lvl90dru1d]

you mean that 80's band?

[@lazarminion2590]

i remember seeing those alot on tiktok during the quarantine. do they actually work or is it just another scam?

[@woodenjoe]

I remember seeing those in the early 2000s!

[@annenelson5656]

Ed Dames was a regular guest on Art Bell’s After Dark radio program. He referred to himself as “Major Ed Dames” and had the most pitiful whiny voice ever. I always got a great laugh when he was Art Bell’s guest. Ed Dames was just another one of the crazy guests on After Dark. Art Bell was the greatest. I loved that guy. May he rest in peace.

[@garrisonfjord]

6:55 was so relaxing. I need more of this.

[@danoconnell1833]

This sent me down a memory lane of my 'journey into myself' in my 20's. From personal experience I can say that it's not all bunk, and it's also not what it's hyped up to be. There are two things to understand: 1 The process of expanding one's mind is eminently personal and can't be broadcast; and 2 It is not without its dangers. In my opinion putting your mind under the control of someone's machine is a serious mistake. It might work for you, or it might trigger something ... unpleasant.

[@jasonblalock4429]

Yeah, back in the day I got into binaural beats - especially once I found a freeware program that could make the sound tones, which could then be laid under any other audio. There's definitely something to basic concept, and it actually helped lead me towards more proper meditation by, I think, kind of 'training' my brain to enter that state more easily. But I definitely doubt they did much more besides helping a person meditate.

[@marsovac]

Expanding one's mind is just "living". There is no machine or method to expand it quickly.

[@loopghost]

“Become a whale”… already working on it.

[@nayfepacewell8923]

I remember when a pair of glasses were claimed to make me super human. Most upsetting box of cereal I ever bought. 😢

[@skiptoacceptancemdarlin]

CYCLES PER SECOND = HERTZ

[@davep5698]

The best thing about a virtual campus is, you can really see yourself going there. 😁

[@happy_girl_1]

Can I just say that I LOVE the new direction of this channel. Keep it up!

[@doogie812]

I concentrate on the tape hiss as the flashing LEDs drive my blood pressure to stratospheric heights. Suddenly one eye goes dark. A stroke? An aneurysm? Maybe an open circuit. As the EMT's stabilize my condition we are left with only one conclusion. Throw that shit away.

[@LoneCanadianPoet]

If Dr. Disrespect was "Jobe" from the 1992 movie Lawnmower Man... Dane Spotts would be his "Dr. Angelo".😂

[@Tom-cn4cm]

There was also an episode of Columbo that was about remote viewing and the military’s interest in it. It’s a good episode.

[@charlesurrea1451]

Being in a sensory deprivation tank doesn't make you think differently. It allows you to think by removing all over the distractions.

[@xliquidflames]

They tried to make a Matrix style brain jack without the hole in the skull. "I know -kung fu- how to talk to dolphins."

[@RyanStonedonCanadianGaming]

Neuralink 🐬

[@ye_wonker]

i think at least a few videogames i have played have been inspired by all this crap: receiver 1&2, where you achieve enlightenment (and train your "mindtech") by listening to tapes and also use sensory deprivation tanks. then there is hypnospace outlaw, where you browse internet circa 1999 in your sleep by use of a high tech headband

[@PrimoPigeon]

5:21 🚪🏃🏼‍♀️ Oh, absolutely the fuck NOT 😂

[@stickmanrobert1949]

Bro when you showed that sample it was wild I stared to see things I wish it was longer I think I could work with these things

[@LegoDork]

This reminds me of Binaural beats. It was a program going around about 15 years ago. You needed their software and stereo headphones. The claim was it could replicate various drug experiences and physical sensations. I played with it for a bit, and it seemed to do something, sort of. You definitely felt a little weird after listening to 20 minutes of rhythmic gobbledygook.

[@private_channel1821]

Remindes me on the device from the tv series "Chuck" (2007-2012) with the "Intersect, "flashes" and the "cypher".

[@glenncurry3041]

All they need is a cardboard holder like glasses to hold your phone in front of your eyes.

[@backacheache]

Like google's "cardboard" or "vr" headsets like it? (but with the phones "flashlight" pointing at your eyes instead of the screen?

[@glenncurry3041]

@@backacheache Yep!

[@robertkerr4199]

I remember seeing these ads but I always assumed they were just a scam and skipped the page. Times really have not changed.. *So I've actually had a near death experience and that was nothing like it.

[@Oldman_Gamer2]

Have you shared it anywhere, like IANDS? I'd love to hear about it.

[@honda1st1]

I like this show. Thanks for keeping it going.

[@lorddorker3703]

The near death experience reminds me of the hard to find movie BRAINSTORM. Maybe it was the inspiration for the product?

[@Mantis24513]

I don't have any photosensitivity so I should be prefectly fine to look at .... GOOD LORD WHAT IS HAPPENING?

[@923EON]

This is almost something you’d see on the film “Total Recall”

[@abel4556]

More like "Total Refund"!

[@freethinkradio]

They had one of these at the Nexxus rave back in the early 90's in Montreal.. They called it "The Mind Machine".. It was in a soundproof pod with 4 or 5 other seats and i think it was like $10 to sit in there and chill for 20 min or something like that..

[@SteveBrandon]

I wasn't into the rave scene but I remember a segment on MusiquePlus with Denis Talbot trying on glasses like that so maybe he was in one of those pods at Nexxus?

[@freethinkradio]

@@SteveBrandon Quite possible.. The thing i remember most is there being more LED on each eyepiece. At least 5 - 6 on each lens..

[@thanksfernuthin]

So... they don't work, right? There's no data showing they work. Right?

[@jasonblalock4429]

Eh, they kinda do, and kinda don't. The idea that brainwaves can be affected by outside stimuli is very real - hence all the epilepsy warnings. And under the right circumstances, gizmos like these can help induce meditation-style states. But obviously all the claims in the adverts about learning Spanish overnight were complete bullshit. (Also, just speaking personally, I hated the LED goggles too, the one time I tried them. But the binaural beats by themselves worked nicely, within the limited scope of trying to relax and/or meditate with a little outside assistance.)

[@AurenGlytterkat]

The binaural beats have a lot of evidence for them. The flashing lights- ehh not so much. I use binaural beats for pain (my back pain and migraines)… they work better the more you use them- so, entrainment really does work for a lot of people.

[@thanksfernuthin]

@@AurenGlytterkat Oof. The placebo effect is real and immensely powerful my friend. If it works for you, fantastic. I wouldn't want to sell it to anyone myself, however.

[@TopDownDC]

It's funny, I got this when I was in college. I had my doubts about the tapes and the wilder claims in the ads, but I was into meditation and had read about entrainment machines (there were other ones like it on the market), so I figured it would get me into deeper states. It did, and I enjoyed it, and I think it did me some good in school and sports. No miracles, just a little performance edge at best, and fun at worst. My roommates and I jokingly called it "microwaving." It eventually broke. There's an android app nowadays called Mindroid that lets you try the basic concept for free... you just have to lie back with your phone resting over your eyes lol.

[@lastnamefirstname8655]

very interesting, thanks kevin! nice mind control! it feels like it might work on me if i could try one. but also i'm slightly scared to actually try this out in real life, seriously.

[@tokin420nchokin]

Now I see where the inspiration for pit vipers came from

[@adamberndt4190]

2:48 No, it's proof that someone wants to sell one, that doesn't mean ANYONE is looking to buy one.

[@mikezio]

The modern version of this is the Lumenate app, which uses your phones flash to do the same thing paired with sounds / haptics (if you choose). I will say, I’ve been using the app for the last year and it 9/10 times puts me into a trance and knocks me out if I’m having trouble sleeping.

[@KarldorisLambley]

red lights flashing before the eyes at up to 30Hz. what could go wrong? lol

[@UVClay]

Those sigma male affirmations videos probably hit different if you have the SuperMind glasses on.

[@Nmethyltransferase]

PCP/GP: "Why do you want a neurologist's referral for photogenic epilepsy? That seems oddly specific. Why do you believe you have it?" Me: "Well..."

[@777idkineedausername]

I always thought the point of the Ghostbusters experiment was to see if by lying to and shocking the male participant, his esp impoved. The date with the student was just a nice bonus.

[@OneColdMonkey]

Yep, it was working! AND it was pissing him off!

[@SteveBrandon]

Wasn't the male participant "wrong" in that he wasn't seeing the card that Dr. Peter Venkman was holding at the time, he was seeing one card ahead?

[@faxcorp]

Great series. I love the presenter and the investigative work that goes into these

[@xliquidflames]

What a fascinating story. This seems to be in the same vein as the other 90s products like Kevin Trudeau's Mega Memory which was cassette tapes that taught you memorization tricks. You could meet 100 people in a few minutes and remember all their names, for example. There was also a math product that claimed you could do complex math in your head after listening to the tapes. There was a lot of this stuff in the 90s. By the way, thanks for the epilepsy warning. I would have been out had I not been warned. Something else that really bothers people like me is scrolling images like at 12:54. Trying to look at the screen while all that text is scrolling upwards gives me vertigo and a little nausea sometimes. I'm fine if I'm in control of the mouse and scrolling a website because I am in control of the speed. But when it's in a video, I have to look away.

[@burbank3]

that ending was CINEMATIC. thank you for another great strange interesting lesson in science's unknown past.

[@naomiwright4895]

That was very interesting thank you

[@randallclemons8638]

And my comment about the reason they ended it because Jimmy Carter let it slip in the 90s. I just got your part in the video about that. Look into that. He was telling a story about how they actually found someone they were looking for, using that. That happened. Wold stuff. I'd just like to see what happens.

[@monstrositylabs]

I used one of these in the 90's :)

[@Demonslayer-64]

I mean, we can do many things when we have control over our minds. I even think there's a sense we killed that we once commonly had (or maybe some people still have) but this really only looks like making a profit out of simple meditation and spending time with your consciousness

[@FinnleysAudioAdventures]

I think I saw this on an infomercial late night on USA network. But low key, I kind of want that cetacean one.

[@frogz]

this would be kinda cool to make videos of the full tracks, the flashing is easy enough on a bigscreen tv

[@randallclemons8638]

Dude, make a half hour video of that flashing light with sound. The deepest level. I would actually like to use my phone with my cheap VR headset and try that. put a warning on it. But you would probably get a lot of plays from people who want to experiment. I'd seriously like to check that out and see what happens. You can't blame some for being curious. You said it worked on some. You're not selling anything. Just an experiment. I would greatly appreciate it. And if you already have, shoot me a link.

[@ThePsylopAt]

Very interesting! Thanks for the video

[@autingo6583]

6:20 well they didn't lie with the "near death experience" i guess?

[@MadolynGabriel]

6:58 I absolutely loved it

[@angelaavalon]

I used one of these at a tech fair back in the 90s. I really wanted to be more impressed than I was.

[@TheGrinningViking]

Man it's a bad idea to be on KZbin at all if you have epilepsy. Not all videos have warnings. Is it worth it, anyone out there who has epilepsy? The funny little videos in return for the risk of a stroke?

[@AurenGlytterkat]

As someone (AuDHD) with a history of seizures- yes. It is. Anything for the constant hits of dopamine that KZbin provides. 🤤

[@CandGoods]

the main thing those soundscapes were bringing to mind for me was the slaughterhouse-soundscape that opens the title track of The Smiths' "Meat Is Murder".

[@randallclemons8638]

Ill give ya a tip though. You already know more about how it's done than I do. But I do know if you do make that half hour video, you have to do it in VR mode. And the flashing frequencies and sound for the left and right, have to be offset. It has something to do with the the frequency of the left and right brain. But your motivation would be views for a.... Demonstration that makes no claims about anything. Could be done with a phone and VR headset. And ear buds. I would trust yours more than ii would this other stuff on KZbin. I know it sounds nuts but you have to understand my motivation and more than likely millions of others. Curiosity. Just let try it for myself. Like you did.

[@forbiddenera]

21:21 😂 of course that's where the meaning of life went.

[@TommyCrosby]

I know Kung-Fu.

[@private_channel1821]

....the quote from the tv series "Chuck" (2007-2012) with the "Intersect, "flashes" and the "cypher". Good memories.

[@jaytc3218]

So, I'm guess that those X-Ray Glasses in the back of those comic books and kids' magazines weren't legit? Is it too late to get a refund?

[@ewkabel]

Well heck if you want to transform into a whale just eat two dozen donuts every day for 10 years.

[@davep5698]

Omelette du fromage

[@tamarabrugara]

Interestingly there are so few Dutch people with the last name de ligter that I assumed it was a assumed name , but there are literally a handfull people actually called that in North-Holland

[@andymouse]

Would love to see inside the box of electronics.

[@Volundur9567]

That would have given me a horrible migraine.

[@forbiddenera]

6:55 almost feels like a pulldown due to frame sync should have done 60fps😂

[@whtiequillBj]

@21:36, the symbol with the all seeing all and a circle and lines looks very close to the sun symbol from native american symbols.

[@Joeyzoom]

I understand why it's a "red" light.

[@chrisbarry9345]

I hope someone tries to ethically put science into this without making claims. There is something there. The gateway tapes are an example

[@joshuapuett]

I found a flyer for this YEARS ago, I always just assumed it was a scam / cult.

[@alexandreperron6106]

In the same veins as binaural beats, the tech "makes sense" but there is no scientific evidence.

[@RisingRevengeance]

I fully believe it's just a placebo but I did enjoy some binaural beats

[@trels203]

I really dove into binaural beats when I was in high school. I cannot dismiss the possibility of a placebo, but I will say that at times, after sessions trying ones that emulated drugs like peyote, I would have wavey visuals among some auditory effects for a period of time afterwards. Maybe I will revisit now that I have some higher end headphones and a better idea of placebo effect being at play.

[@bmeht]

Way to go, I'm sure they're enjoying your free publicity.

[@Kayaz48]

I had to click out, I just couldn’t take that USED CAR SALESMAN VOOOOOOIIIICCEEEE!!!! BUY NOW

[@benmcreynolds8581]

I couldn't help but think: "All of that, just for some flickering red lights & some trippy sounds?? Ok.." (I do believe we are advancing in Brain tech. Such as those helmets that can interact with your brain using magnetic frequencies 🧲 🧠)

[@danlscan]

So, this is the source for Iragi WMD claims and the justification for W's war. 😁

[@vulcanfeline]

came to the comments looking for this. surprisingly, only 1 other person did too

[@luxvenus]

of course this was from Redmond, WA

[@RalphBarbagallo]

lol another gadget I saw in Omni magazine that I desperately wanted. Totally forgot about this.

[@vaszgul736]

So, it sounds to me like expensive glasses that ask you to imagine a scenario, something you can do without the expensive glasses. It's also now understood that some people lack an internal minds eye and literally cannot imagine anything visually, or sensationally. So it's possible the 'small percentage of people whose minds reject it" are just people who cannot imagine the things the other people wearing them were imagining.

[@AttenBot]

anyone else get that uncanny resemblance of Ed Dames and Eminem

[@Dan82W]

This is some MK Ultra shit without the lsd lol

[@mossydog2385]

Want to achieve a higher consciousness? Meditation is free, and so are mushrooms if you know where to look for them.

[@marcel1372]

Aboriginal Dreamtime is crazy

[@aelolul]

holy shot i wasn't photosensitive before but i think i am now

[@randallclemons8638]

Second comment. The reason I would like to try it, is just out of curiosity. I'd like to see what happens. And even though it is nuts, the us government and CIA actually tried these experiments for years. Whether it s bunk of not, the fact they did it, did it for decades, and true. The men who stare at goats. Lol hahaha I forget the name of that project. It was people like Info Swan. Don't know how to spell his name. And others. Some of these guys got assassinated. It only ended after Jimmy Carter accidently let it slip in the 90s. And that is exactly how they described doing it. So, make a half hour video of it. I would just like to see what happens. I'm not saying I believe. But I can't really disbelieve either. Ubti I try it. I just got to the part where you are talking about the government research. Hahaha as you can see, I've heard about it before. Just curiosity. I've seen videos that say things like that. But I've never tried them . But that, I would like to try. That is exactly how they described doing it. So, id just like to check it out.

[@13orrax]

i remember wanting this thing so bad

[@grigoriymaltsev]

cannot wait for the next episode. no, for real.

[@kayakMike1000]

I wanted these...

[@catherinebaldwin6580]

Oh ga oh ga oh ga. Ow.... I technically have epliepsy. But I have been able to watch every "epliepsy warning" video exept the porygon episode. Oh ga. ... Okay I'm okay. How does this exist?! I don't know if this came out before or after the porygon episode, but Still! Did people not think photo senstivity was a thing in the 90s?

[@jussikuusela7345]

In the early 90's I saw a movie that was already "TV old", likely mid/late 80's where a rather small and not very high intensity alarm light with relatively high ambient light caused a photosensitive seizure to a character. So the phenomenon was known well enough to get into a movie script but perhaps a bit overhyped in that occasion.

[@carlg5838]

Yes, but disclaimer warnings routinely posted to avoid any possible legal liability, however uncommon, were not. Most people had never heard of photosensitive epilepsy before those notices became commonplace, probably due to its rarity. By all accounts, people who are photsensitive to seizures are fairly rare among epilepsy sufferers in general. Estimates from medical reports suggest possibly 1-3 percent of people diagnosed with epilepsy ever had seizures that might be attributed to flashing lights, and that was before the warnings to just avoid certain flashing lights became standard boilerplate. The number of reported cases among the Millions of kids in Japan watching that original broadcast also suggests it's a very small percentage of the population. By either estimate, only 1 in several thousands of humans probably need to be concerned about it, and only when the flashing is at a certain rate and perceived intensity. Ask your doctor, if you're worried. They'll likely tell you to avoid all bright, flashing lights just to be safe, and to cover their own butt. The perceived intensity of the strobing light apparently needs to be high to trigger a seizure among those who have suffered from photosensitive epilepsy. A common observation among those kids in Japan who reported being affected was that they were often very close to the TV screen, in a dimly lit room (the original episode was also broadcast after sunset in Japan). And many of the reports from kids and concerned parents were never actually confirmed to be epileptic seizures. Public hysteria in response to unfamiliar dangers is often out of proportion to the true level of risk.Think strobe lights, or being so close to a screen that it's all you can see conditions, in an otherwise dark room. And yet, cheap party strobe lights that could be adjusted to flash at exactly the "danger" frequencies were a fixture of dimly lit house parties and clubs all over the world for many, many years before that episode was aired, and still sold today (with warning labels on them of course). Also not mentioned in this video, there were MANY similar products on the market featuring flashing LEDs mounted in glasses sold for similar purposes, for decades at least. This product was hardly original or alone in that feature, nor were the flashing lights the reason for their legal troubles.

[@BaronVonQuiply]

Must... grill.... Lincoln Why did you upload a 14 second video? Also have you seen Lincoln around anywhere?

[@chadhoward1982]

Seriously bro? If you don't want it send it my way. A lot of mediation audio frequencies sound like that because you have to mimic the brainwave frequency. Since you won't be able to hear a 2hz frequency or any other low frequency like that, you have to put a frequency in one ear that is higher or lower in the value frequency you want to simulate the in the other ear. Also you can get OBE experiences when you flash a light in your eyes why they are closed. The idea is to numb the visual and audio senses so you can pair that with a silent mind and you escape your reality. It's a bio hack that keeps you from having to do 20+ years of meditation and breathing exercises to learn to control your senses to get in that same state that some wierd audio and flashing lights can do after a week or two of using them.

[@rattmcpossum]

My god my mates hippy dad made a version of this and just had them at raves and charged a few quid to let people have a go Was acc insane on acid lol, was having full on music videos when played with music; you could move a dial for speed or intensity Idk what came first, but this guy was from the 60s and I can totally imagine some guy going to a rave in the uk, and making a business out of it

[@stephenmadl5609]

His idea for replicating sensory deprivation is to create sensory overload? Make it make sense 😂😂😂😂

[@forbiddenera]

8:50 lol need pro to buy stuff .. 😂😂😂😂😂 need to buy stuff to buy stuff to buy stuff 😮

[@scrubtug6507]

4:24 weed

[@MissMTurner]

Yeah I just take an edible. 😅

[@WellBeSerious12]

No South Park episode?

[@sorinankitt]

Ok, why did the picture of the woman start with the picture of a young man to a woman

[@heggle-]

this is just receiver 2

[@morthim]

afaik the last 4 star general was named george washington.

[@maplebob23]

I had this!

[@AustinJD84]

I feel bad for people who fall for this stuff