66 research outputs found
Comparison of an open-hardware electroencephalography amplifier with medical grade device in brain-computer interface applications
Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are promising communication devices between
humans and machines. BCI based on non-invasive neuroimaging techniques such as
electroencephalography (EEG) have many applications , however the dissemination
of the technology is limited, in part because of the price of the hardware. In
this paper we compare side by side two EEG amplifiers, the consumer grade
OpenBCI and the medical grade g.tec g.USBamp. For this purpose, we employed an
original montage, based on the simultaneous recording of the same set of
electrodes. Two set of recordings were performed. During the first experiment a
simple adapter with a direct connection between the amplifiers and the
electrodes was used. Then, in a second experiment, we attempted to discard any
possible interference that one amplifier could cause to the other by adding
"ideal" diodes to the adapter. Both spectral and temporal features were tested
-- the former with a workload monitoring task, the latter with an visual P300
speller task. Overall, the results suggest that the OpenBCI board -- or a
similar solution based on the Texas Instrument ADS1299 chip -- could be an
effective alternative to traditional EEG devices. Even though a medical grade
equipment still outperforms the OpenBCI, the latter gives very close EEG
readings, resulting in practice in a classification accuracy that may be
suitable for popularizing BCI uses.Comment: PhyCS - International Conference on Physiological Computing Systems,
Jul 2016, Lisbon, Portugal. SCITEPRESS, 201
VIF: Virtual Interactive Fiction (with a twist)
Nowadays computer science can create digital worlds that deeply immerse
users; it can also process in real time brain activity to infer their inner
states. What marvels can we achieve with such technologies? Go back to
displaying text. And unfold a story that follows and molds users as never
before.Comment: Pervasive Play - CHI '16 Workshop, May 2016, San Jose, United State
Interactive Narrative in Virtual Reality
Interactive fiction is a literary genre that is rapidly gaining popularity.
In this genre, readers are able to explicitly take actions in order to guide
the course of the story. With the recent popularity of narrative focused games,
we propose to design and develop an interactive narrative tool for content
creators. In this extended abstract, we show how we leverage this interactive
medium to present a tool for interactive storytelling in virtual reality. Using
a simple markup language, content creators and researchers are now able to
create interactive narratives in a virtual reality environment. We further
discuss the potential future directions for a virtual reality storytelling
engine
Di\v{s}imo: Anchoring Our Breath
We present a system that raises awareness about users' inner state.
Di\v{s}imo is a multimodal ambient display that provides feedback about one's
stress level, which is assessed through heart rate monitoring. Upon detecting a
low heart rate variability for a prolonged period of time, Di\v{s}imo plays an
audio track, setting the pace of a regular and deep breathing. Users can then
choose to take a moment to focus on their breath. By doing so, they will
activate the Di\v{s}imo devices belonging to their close ones, who can then
join for a shared relaxation session
Heart Rate Monitoring as an Easy Way to Increase Engagement in Human-Agent Interaction
Physiological sensors are gaining the attention of manufacturers and users.
As denoted by devices such as smartwatches or the newly released Kinect 2 --
which can covertly measure heartbeats -- or by the popularity of smartphone
apps that track heart rate during fitness activities. Soon, physiological
monitoring could become widely accessible and transparent to users. We
demonstrate how one could take advantage of this situation to increase users'
engagement and enhance user experience in human-agent interaction. We created
an experimental protocol involving embodied agents -- "virtual avatars". Those
agents were displayed alongside a beating heart. We compared a condition in
which this feedback was simply duplicating the heart rates of users to another
condition in which it was set to an average heart rate. Results suggest a
superior social presence of agents when they display feedback similar to users'
internal state. This physiological "similarity-attraction" effect may lead,
with little effort, to a better acceptance of agents and robots by the general
public.Comment: PhyCS - International Conference on Physiological Computing Systems,
Feb 2015, Angers, France. SCITEPRESS, \<http://www.phycs.org/\&g
Assessing the Zone of Comfort in Stereoscopic Displays using EEG
The conflict between vergence (eye movement) and accommodation (crystalline
lens deformation) occurs in every stereoscopic display. It could cause
important stress outside the "zone of comfort", when stereoscopic effect is too
strong. This conflict has already been studied using questionnaires, during
viewing sessions of several minutes. The present pilot study describes an
experimental protocol which compares two different comfort conditions using
electroencephalography (EEG) over short viewing sequences. Analyses showed
significant differences both in event-related potentials (ERP) and in frequency
bands power. An uncomfortable stereoscopy correlates with a weaker negative
component and a delayed positive component in ERP. It also induces a power
decrease in the alpha band and increases in theta and beta bands. With fast
responses to stimuli, EEG is likely to enable the conception of adaptive
systems, which could tune the stereoscopic experience according to each viewer
TOBE: Tangible Out-of-Body Experience
We propose a toolkit for creating Tangible Out-of-Body Experiences: exposing
the inner states of users using physiological signals such as heart rate or
brain activity. Tobe can take the form of a tangible avatar displaying live
physiological readings to reflect on ourselves and others. Such a toolkit could
be used by researchers and designers to create a multitude of potential
tangible applications, including (but not limited to) educational tools about
Science Technologies Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and cognitive science,
medical applications or entertainment and social experiences with one or
several users or Tobes involved. Through a co-design approach, we investigated
how everyday people picture their physiology and we validated the acceptability
of Tobe in a scientific museum. We also give a practical example where two
users relax together, with insights on how Tobe helped them to synchronize
their signals and share a moment
The Impact of Flow in an EEG-based Brain Computer Interface
Major issues in Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) include low usability and
poor user performance. This paper tackles them by ensuring the users to be in a
state of immersion, control and motivation, called state of flow. Indeed, in
various disciplines, being in the state of flow was shown to improve
performances and learning. Hence, we intended to draw BCI users in a flow state
to improve both their subjective experience and their performances. In a Motor
Imagery BCI game, we manipulated flow in two ways: 1) by adapting the task
difficulty and 2) by using background music. Results showed that the difficulty
adaptation induced a higher flow state, however music had no effect. There was
a positive correlation between subjective flow scores and offline performance,
although the flow factors had no effect (adaptation) or negative effect (music)
on online performance. Overall, favouring the flow state seems a promising
approach for enhancing users' satisfaction, although its complexity requires
more thorough investigations
Comparison of an open-hardware electroencephalography amplifier with medical grade device in brain-computer interface applications
International audienceBrain-computer interfaces (BCI) are promising communication devices between humans and machines. BCI based on non-invasive neuroimaging techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) have many applications , however the dissemination of the technology is limited, in part because of the price of the hardware. In this paper we compare side by side two EEG amplifiers, the consumer grade OpenBCI and the medical grade g.tec g.USBamp. For this purpose, we employed an original montage, based on the simultaneous recording of the same set of electrodes. Two set of recordings were performed. During the first experiment a simple adapter with a direct connection between the amplifiers and the electrodes was used. Then, in a second experiment, we attempted to discard any possible interference that one amplifier could cause to the other by adding " ideal " diodes to the adapter. Both spectral and temporal features were tested – the former with a workload monitoring task, the latter with an visual P300 speller task. Overall, the results suggest that the OpenBCI board – or a similar solution based on the Texas Instrument ADS1299 chip – could be an effective alternative to traditional EEG devices. Even though a medical grade equipment still outperforms the OpenBCI, the latter gives very close EEG readings, resulting in practice in a classification accuracy that may be suitable for popularizing BCI uses
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