Pocket Neurobics approach with Biosignal.Network

paulbrennanpaulbrennan Victoria, Canada
in Other Platforms

Hi all,
I was wondering if anybody had thoughts about www.Biosignal.Network. This is a Chrome based web app that does neurofeedback signal processing - free for trainers and trainees. Currently it only supports the Pocket Neurobics Wiz line of amplifiers, but I'm not really clear on the relationship b/w Biosignal and Pocket Neurobics - the only reference to it is on the PN website so I guess it's not necessarily an open source development.
With regard to the site itself - at first glance the interface seems a bit tricky to use and I don't have a PN device to try it properly. But it is an interesting development in that it works on Mac, Windows and Android. There are no other options for the Mac with regard to Pocket Neurobics and indeed few Mac options in general in NFB. Also no driver required for the Mac.
Is this the only purely web-based option for NFB? I assumed that this was a technical limitation of NFB signal processing but apparently not. I wonder what would be involved in creating a similar web app for the Ganglion.
Thanks, Paul

Comments

  • wjcroftwjcroft Mount Shasta, CA

    Paul, hi.

    I took a quick look at the web app,

    https://www.biosignal.network/

    As you stated, it seems limited to only Pocket Neurobics devices, and is surely funded by them. If you examine some of the 'Blog' entries, ('book' icon, user guides). This section quoted below, called "Protocols, old is new", describes the very unusual FFT vs filters approach taken. Apparently to lessen the processor load so the web app can run on even Chrome browsers in phones / tablets.

    ... In the years subsequent, there was a drift towards using separate filters, and not the FFT, to extract features from the bio-signal. Reasons for this change are unclear, however it is true that discrete filters allow easier control of technical characteristics like phase response and perhaps latency.

    These additonal filters represented an increased processor load however, since the presence of the FFT maintained, used to display the bio-signal in its entirety.

    In scoping the BioSignal.Network Web App, we made the choice to revert to protocol processing based on the FFT. We wanted BioSignal.Network to work equally well on desktops and smartphones and all devices in between. By not using separate filters for protocol processing, the chance to achieve viable solutions on low-powered devices is significantly enhanced...

    So just this factor alone would separate out their approach from all other neurofeedback apps I'm aware of, which use bandpass filters. It would be helpful to read some feedback / customer comments on how this is working out. And comparing this approach to say Pete van Deusen's Brain-Trainer BioEra or Bioexplorer protocols.

    Regarding 'how' the web app works. It is accessing the device usb serial port data and command stream. This could be adapted for Cyton, which uses a serial stream protocol. But not for Ganglion. As Ganglion usb serial port dongle is NOT a serial data stream, but instead a rather complex general interface to BLE Bluetooth Low Energy devices.

    You are correct in that most neurofeedback apps are geared towards Windows PCs. But since inexpensive laptops can be had for just a couple hundred dollars (used or new) -- this seems like a small hurdle.

    Regards, William

  • paulbrennanpaulbrennan Victoria, Canada

    Thanks for that William, very useful detail on the FFT v. filters issue.

  • wjcroftwjcroft Mount Shasta, CA

    I also wonder if the Pocket Neurobics development of this web app, was in response to Pete's recent move to BioEra. Where the pricing took a significant leap upward. Thus potentially impacting PN sales. A low-cost, free webapp like this could help new users.

    https://brain-trainer.com/product-category/products/complete-starter-packages/

    The current supported languages via Brainflow libraries, does NOT include Javascript. And web apps are based on some type of Javascript framework. Andrey the Brainflow designer does mention that Javascript support may be forthcoming, but is a low priority. If such a Javascript interface library was available, it would make Ganglion (particularly) and Cyton webapps more possible.

    https://brainflow.readthedocs.io/en/stable/BuildBrainFlow.html

  • paulbrennanpaulbrennan Victoria, Canada

    Thanks William. In the meantime I've got all these Muses that I need to find a temporary use for :)
    James Clutterbuck's Mind Monitor is great but the feedback is visual - no use for my therapy clients. I would need to send the OSC output to an audio generator, which is feasible for me but much too hard for them to set up. So I could use a simple web app that does just that, so it's a similar problem to the one above. But I'm getting the idea that this is actually quite hard to do in Javascript due to browser security issues with UDP streaming - is that why we are not seeing a lot of web based solutions for NFB?

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