Towards zero training for brain-computer interfacing

August 13, 2008

While invasive electrode recordings in humans show long-term promise, non-invasive techniques can also provide effective brain-computer interfacing (BCI) and localization of motor activity in the brain for paralyzed patients with significantly reduced risks and costs as well as novel applications for healthy users. However, two issues hamper the ease of use of BCI systems based on non-invasive recording techniques, such as electroencephalography (EEG).

First, the demands for electrode preparation for multi-channel EEG - necessary for optimal performance - are significant. Second, EEG signals are highly subject-specific and vary considerably even between recording sessions of the same user performing the same experimental paradigm.

Therefore, the BCI software that includes preprocessing and classification needed to be adapted individually for optimal performance before every session. While Popescu et al. (Single Trial Classification of Motor Imagination Using 6 Dry EEG Electrodes, PLoS ONE, 2007) have proposed a solution to the first issue by introducing dry electrodes, which can reduce the EEG electrode preparation time from 40 minutes to one minute, the second problem has, until now, remained unsolved.

Reporting in the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE, on August 13, a new study by Matthias Krauledat and colleagues at the Berlin Institute of Technology suggests a novel data analysis method that bypasses the need for the time-consuming calibration for long-term BCI users and may reduce the calibration time from 20?? minutes to one minute. This is achieved by a clustering approach, which extracts most representative spatial filters for each individual subject from prior recordings.

Taken together, these developments of the Berlin BCI group pave the way to make BCI technology more practical for daily use in man-machine interaction both for patients and for the healthy.

Public Library of Science

Toward Brain-Computer Interfacing (Neural Information Processing series)
by Guido Dornhege (Editor), José del R. Millán (Editor), Thilo Hinterberger (Editor), Dennis J. McFarland (Editor), Klaus-Robert Müller (Editor)

Interest in developing an effective communication interface connecting the human brain and a computer has grown rapidly over the past decade. The brain-computer interface (BCI) would allow humans to operate computers, wheelchairs, prostheses, and other devices, using brain signals only. BCI research may someday provide a communication channel for patients with severe physical disabilities but intact cognitive functions, a working tool in computational neuroscience that contributes to a better understanding of the brain, and a novel independent interface for human-machine communication that offers new options for monitoring and control. This volume presents a...

A Practical Guide to Brain-Computer Interfacing with BCI2000: General-Purpose Software for Brain-Computer Interface Research, Data Acquisition, ... (Human-Computer Interaction Series)
by Gerwin Schalk (Author), Jürgen Mellinger (Author)

This practical guide to successful Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) experiments, uses the general-purpose software platform BCI2000. It provides comprehensive introductory and intermediate concepts of all relevant aspects pertaining to common BCI experiments. Opening with a general introduction to the principles of BCI operation, brain signal acquisition using different types of sensors, BCI signal processing (including common feature extraction and feature translation methods), and device output, this general introduction to BCI research is followed by an introduction to the BCI2000 software platform, including a step-by step tour and step-by-step tutorials for using BCI2000 with sensorimotor rhythms and P300 evoked potentials. Advanced concepts are discussed and a programming...

Prospects for Brain-Computer Interfacing: team uses brain waves to drive robot.(Cybernetics): An article from: The Futurist
by Patrick Tucker (Author)

This digital document is an article from The Futurist, published by World Future Society on September 1, 2010. The length of the article is 967 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Prospects for Brain-Computer Interfacing: team uses brain waves to drive robot.(Cybernetics)
Author: Patrick Tucker
Publication: The Futurist (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2010
Publisher: World Future Society
Volume: 44 Issue: 5 Page: 7(3)

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage...

Brain-Computer Interfaces: Applying our Minds to Human-Computer Interaction (Human-Computer Interaction Series)
by Desney S. Tan (Editor), Anton Nijholt (Editor)

For generations, humans have fantasized about the ability to create devices that can see into a person’s mind and thoughts, or to communicate and interact with machines through thought alone. Such ideas have long captured the imagination of humankind in the form of ancient myths and modern science fiction stories. Recent advances in cognitive neuroscience and brain imaging technologies have started to turn these myths into a reality, and are providing us with the ability to interface directly with the human brain. This ability is made possible through the use of sensors that monitor physical processes within the brain which correspond with certain forms of thought. Brain-Computer Interfaces: Applying our Minds to Human-Computer Interaction broadly surveys research in the Brain-Computer...

Brain-Computer Interfaces: Revolutionizing Human-Computer Interaction (The Frontiers Collection)
by Bernhard Graimann (Editor), Brendan Allison (Editor), Gert Pfurtscheller (Editor)

A brain-computer interface (BCI) establishes a direct output channel between the human brain and external devices. BCIs infer user intent via direct measures of brain activity and thus enable communication and control without movement. This book, authored by experts in the field, provides an accessible introduction to the neurophysiological and signal-processing background required for BCI, presents state-of-the-art non-invasive and invasive approaches, gives an overview of current hardware and software solutions, and reviews the most interesting as well as new, emerging BCI applications. The book is intended not only for students and young researchers, but also for newcomers and other readers from diverse backgrounds keen to learn about this vital scientific endeavour.

The Brain: A Very Short Introduction
by Michael O'Shea (Author)

The Brain: A Very Short Introduction provides a non-technical introduction to the main issues and findings in current brain research and gives a sense of how neuroscience addresses questions about the relationship between the brain and the mind. Short, clear discussions on the mechanical workings of the brain are offered and the details of brain science are covered in an accessible style. Explanations of the more familiar implications of the brain's actions, such as memories, perceptions, and motor control are integrated throughout the book. It has chapters on brain processes and the causes of "altered mental states," as well as a final chapter that discusses possible future developments in neuroscience, touching on artificial intelligence, gene therapy, the importance of the Human Genome...

Brain Machine Interfaces for Space Applications: enhancing astronaut capabilities, Volume 86 (International Review of Neurobiology.)
by Dario Izzo (Editor), Luca Rossini (Editor)

Among the most interesting fields in research are the emerging possibilities to interface the human brain directly with machines, e.g. with computers and robotic interfaces. The European Space Agency's Advanced Concept team as a multidisciplinary team from engineering, artificial intelligence, and neural engineering has been working on the cutting edge of exploring brain machine interfaces for application in space as solutions to limitations astronauts face in space, and this book for the first time presents the state of the art cohesively.

* A pioneering book for a pioneering field
* Presents the application of cutting edge brain machine interface technologies and concepts to support astronauts in space
* Of great interest to space...

A Practical Guide to Brain-Computer Interfacing with BCI2000: General-Purpose Software for Brain-Com [Hardcover]
by Gerwin Schalk (Author)

Brain Inspired Cognitive Systems 2008 (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology)
by Amir Hussain (Editor), Igor Aleksander (Editor), Leslie S. Smith (Editor), Allan Kardec Barros (Editor), Ron Chrisley (Editor), Vassilis Cutsuridis (Editor)

Brain Inspired Cognitive Systems 2008 (June 24-27, 2008; São Luís, Brazil) brought together leading scientists and engineers who use analytic, syntactic and computational methods both to understand the prodigious processing properties of biological systems and, specifically, of the brain, and to exploit such knowledge to advance computational methods towards ever higher levels of cognitive competence. This book includes the papers presented at four major symposia: Part I - Cognitive Neuroscience Part II - Biologically Inspired Systems Part III - Neural Computation Part IV - Models of Consciousness.

Computational Intelligence and Bioinspired Systems: 8th International Work-Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, IWANN 2005, Vilanova i la Geltrú, ... Computer Science and General Issues)
by Joan Cabestany (Editor), Alberto Prieto (Editor), Francisco Sandoval (Editor)

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Artificial Neural Networks, IWANN 2005, held in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Barcelona, Spain in June 2005. The 150 revised papers presented – including the contribution of three invited speakers – were carefully reviewed and selected from 240 submissions for inclusion in the book and address the following topics: mathematical and theoretical methods, evolutionary computation, neurocomputational inspired models, learning and adaptation, radial basic functions structures, self-organizing networks and methods, support vector machines, cellular neural networks, hybrid systems, neuroengineering and hardware implementations, pattern recognition, perception and robotics and applications in a broad variety of...