Question about demonstrating a BCI on stage

RoeyRoey Israel
in General Discussion

Hi guys,
I'm looking for a way to demonstrate the power (or at least the potential) of BCI on stage for gifted children. My basic thinking was to fit a Muse 2 device on a volunteer's head, then being able to tell whether he's thinking "right" or "left" (or "happy" or "sad", or whatever other pair of contradicting terms that will be able for the kid to focus strongly on).
The problem is, I could only find one app that interprets Muse 2 readings, and that's the official Muse app itself. It only gives you real-time interpretation in the form of pre-designed meditation sessions, and the biofeedback isn't accurate at all.
I'm looking for other apps / ways to get data in real-time from the Muse. Maybe you can help? Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks - it's for the kids :smile:

Comments

  • wjcroftwjcroft Mount Shasta, CA

    Roey, hi.

    Here is a list of commonly used BCI 'paradigms', in other words, frequently used BCI technologies that produce reliable results.

    https://www.gtec.at/product/bcisystem/

    If you examine that list, "thought commands" or mental / emotional states, are not present. In part because the "signal to noise" ratio of EEG is so low, and "reading thoughts" has not yet been achieved by BCI's in general. There IS a field called "Affective BCI", that attempts to classify emotional states. But even this requires careful training the classifier on a per subject basis. Using the Google Advanced Search button in upper right column:

    https://www.google.com/search?as_q=affective&as_sitesearch=openbci.com

    Also note that BCI technologies do not really have correlations with "giftedness", as they are designed to work for the general population. But perhaps your intent was to just demonstrate BCI to selected school age children.

    The MindAffect system might have some appeal for your demonstrations, as it is free. See videos on this page,

    https://openbci.com/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/2783/mindaffect-announces-open-source-release-of-their-cvep-bci-speller-games-etc

    Regards, William

  • wjcroftwjcroft Mount Shasta, CA

    A very simple demo can be made with most EEG / BCI systems. And may be better gauged to spontaneous stage demos. The systems on the previous post require careful setup and calibration.

    The 'easy' demo would just be to have the subject alternately close and open the eyes for say 10 seconds at a time. In most individuals, eyes closed will product stronger alpha band (8 to 12 Hz) in the occipital / parietal lobes. (Rear of head.) This is actually part of what Muse is tracking.

  • RoeyRoey Israel
    edited June 2022

    Thank you!

    I know BCI technologies isn't correlated with giftedness / IQ, but I was asked to conduct a demo for gifted children in this case. Of course, if it works, I'm sure we'll get to show it to more audiences.

    My focus, unfortunately, needs to be on off-the-shelf, easy-to-use systems. The more complications one adds to any technological show on stage, the larger the chance that something will explode in your face. Exponentially larger. That's doubly true for systems that need to be carefully calibrated per user, like EEGs.

    I guess I'll just have to settle for using Mind Master or a similar app, with a simple trick like "eyes closed or open", as you suggested.

    Thanks!

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