Combined EEG and eye tracking in sports skills training and performance analysis

The use of mobile EEG brainwave monitoring and eye-tracking recorded synchronously during the training of sports skills offers significant opportunities but creates challenges. Opportunities: ♦ Measuring neurocognitive activity and visual focus in real time which can be used to provide immediate feedback to the coach, in ‘real world’ settings, for optimising training protocols for the individual athlete. ♦ Use of sound output (‘sonification’) in proportion to EEG regions of interest as a neurofeedback mechanism for athlete self-training. ♦ Application of visualisation protocols and ‘EEG-driven’ PC games where game feedback based on state of mind is used to optimise mental state prior to performance. ♦ Examining the relationship between eye movement and neuro activity (e.g. saccades and gamma waves) and in athlete coaching interventions such as sports visual scanning strategies, Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, focussed relaxation, etc. Challenges: ♦ The recording of EEG during gross motor behaviour is subject to non-brain artefacts in the raw (time-domain) EEG, due to the much larger (than EEG) electrical voltages arising from muscle and eye movements. Practical approaches and signal processing (frequency domain spectrum) techniques to address these problems will be discussed. ♦ The synchronisation of data recorded on different types of equipment (e.g. EEG, eyetracker, video, sound, EMG, etc.) with different ‘clocks’ and diverse data formats is difficult – both in terms of time-stamping the original recordings across all the systems and playing them back synchronously for subsequent performance analysis. Progress on creating real-time data export methods which allow synchronous data recording and playback will be reported. Examples of studies carried out in archery, golf, motorsport, football and skiing will be discussed, with a focus on archery where: ♦ Measurements were taken from intermediate, county level, near elite and elite archers. ♦ Archery was chosen to demonstrate the real-time and in-situ quantification of neural activity compared with target-based measures of performance that archery provides, over a range of time-spans and skills. ♦ Results demonstrate that there are significant and measurable changes in EEG patterns during a shot with evidence suggesting that the patterns vary as a function of skill level, but not simply as a function of score. Significance of each of these studies for goal-directed learning and performance enhancement are discussed

Data mining of portable EEG brain wave signals for sports performance analysis: An Archery case study

BACKGROUND ♦ Achievement in high performance sport requires an appropriate ‘state of mind’, which is trained alongside the physical skills. ♦ However, quantification of mental state during coaching is often difficult. ♦ With the advent of a new generation of portable compact EEGs and wireless eye tracking devices, one can measure the neurocognitive activity of an athlete’s brain and their visual focus simultaneously in ecologically representative training scenarios. AIM/OBJECTIVES ♦ We present evidence suggesting that the ‘state of mind’ of an athlete can be measured and compared with target-based performance measures. METHOD ♦ Measurements were taken from intermediate, county level, near elite and elite archers investigating: o quantification of EEG brain wave signals comparing archers of different abilities o correlation of EEG data across shots as a function of marksmanship o prototyping real-time EEG data feedback using sound during training o synchronous EEG and eye tracking ♦ Archery was chosen to demonstrate the real-time and in-situ quantification of neural activity compared with target-based measures of performance that archery provides, over a range of timespans and skills. ♦ Mental performance was explored during stages of a shot, across shots within a set, or across different sessions. RESULTS ♦ Results demonstrate that there are significant and measurable changes in EEG patterns during a shot with evidence suggesting that the patterns vary as a function of skill level, but not simply as a function of score. ♦ Significance of each of these outcomes for goal-directed learning and performance enhancement are discussed. DISCUSSION ♦ This may provide coaches and athletes with real-time EEG feedback to identify differing mental skill execution compared to a baseline or aspirational measurement from another athlete. ♦ Future work includes injury recovery/prevention and welfare, rehabilitation, and work with mobility-challenged non-athletes

Fault-tolerant formation driving mechanism designed for heterogeneous MAVs-UGVs groups

A fault-tolerant method for stabilization and navigation of 3D heterogeneous formations is proposed in this paper. The presented Model Predictive Control (MPC) based approach enables to deploy compact formations of closely cooperating autonomous aerial and ground robots in surveillance scenarios without the necessity of a precise external localization. Instead, the proposed method relies on a top-view visual relative localization provided by the micro aerial vehicles flying above the ground robots and on a simple yet stable visual based navigation using images from an onboard monocular camera. The MPC based schema together with a fault detection and recovery mechanism provide a robust solution applicable in complex environments with static and dynamic obstacles. The core of the proposed leader-follower based formation driving method consists in a representation of the entire 3D formation as a convex hull projected along a desired path that has to be followed by the group. Such an approach provides non-collision solution and respects requirements of the direct visibility between the team members. The uninterrupted visibility is crucial for the employed top-view localization and therefore for the stabilization of the group. The proposed formation driving method and the fault recovery mechanisms are verified by simulations and hardware experiments presented in the paper

Evidence for susceptibility genes to familial Wilms tumour in addition to WT1, FWT1 and FWT2

Three loci have been implicated in familial Wilms tumour: WT1 located on chromosome 11p13, FWT1 on 17q12-q21, and FWT2 on 19q13. Two out of 19 Wilms tumour families evaluated showed strong evidence against linkage at all three loci. Both of these families contained at least three cases of Wilms tumour indicating that they were highly likely to be due to genetic susceptibility and therefore that one or more additional familial Wilms tumour susceptibility genes remain to be found. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig

A mission control architecture for robotic lunar sample return as field tested in an analogue deployment to the Sudbury impact structure

A Mission Control Architecture is presented for a Robotic Lunar Sample Return Mission which builds upon the experience of the landed missions of the NASA Mars Exploration Program. This architecture consists of four separate processes working in parallel at Mission Control and achieving buy-in for plans sequentially instead of simultaneously from all members of the team. These four processes were: Science Processing, Science Interpretation, Planning and Mission Evaluation. Science Processing was responsible for creating products from data downlinked from the field and is organized by instrument. Science Interpretation was responsible for determining whether or not science goals are being met and what measurements need to be taken to satisfy these goals. The Planning process, responsible for scheduling and sequencing observations, and the Evaluation process that fostered inter-process communications, reporting and documentation assisted these processes. This organization is advantageous for its flexibility as shown by the ability of the structure to produce plans for the rover every two hours, for the rapidity with which Mission Control team members may be trained and for the relatively small size of each individual team. This architecture was tested in an analogue mission to the Sudbury impact structure from June 6-17, 2011. A rover was used which was capable of developing a network of locations that could be revisited using a teach and repeat method. This allowed the science team to process several different outcrops in parallel, downselecting at each stage to ensure that the samples selected for caching were the most representative of the site. Over the course of 10 days, 18 rock samples were collected from 5 different outcrops, 182 individual field activities - such as roving or acquiring an image mosaic or other data product - were completed within 43 command cycles, and the rover travelled over 2,200 m. Data transfer from communications passes were filled to 74%. Sample triage was simulated to allow down-selection to 1kg of material for return to Earth

Particle energy loss spectroscopy and SEM studies of topography development in thin aluminium films implanted with high doses of helium

Development of topography in thin (55.5 μg cm−2) self-supporting aluminium films, caused by high fluence (∼1017 ions cm−2)irradiation with 5 keV helium ions, has been observed. This has been achieved by measuring the topography-enhanced energy straggling of 0.40 MeV4He+ ions transmitted through the foils and detected with an electrostatic analyser of resolution 0.2 keV. Features, about 0.7 μm in width, are observed with scanning electron microscopy. TRIM Monte Carlo calculations of the implantation processes are performed in order to follow the helium implantation and damage depth distributions. It is deduced that a form of thin film micro-wrinkling has occurred which is caused by the relief of stress brought about by the implantation of helium

Anomalous energy loss distributions of alpha particles in heavily implanted thin aluminium films

Anomalous energy loss distributions of l48Gd alpha particles have been observed in heavily implanted thin aluminium films. It is surmised that thin film micro-wrinkling is responsible for the observed effect and that the novel technique of energy loss spectral analysis (ELSA) should be useful in studies of the topography of such films