EEG Hyperscanning Capability and Training Support
I am writing to inquire about the suitability of Open BCI EEG systems for an upcoming research project in our laboratory here at IIT Madras, India. We are planning to purchase two units of All-in-One Biosensing Kit, as our lab intends to conduct an EEG hyperscanning study involving simultaneous recordings from two participants (dyadic interactions).
Before proceeding with the purchase, we would like to clarify a few technical and methodological aspects to ensure compatibility with our study design
1. Hyperscanning support
Does the All-in-One Biosensing Kit support EEG hyperscanning (i.e., simultaneous recording from two separate systems)? If yes, what is the recommended setup for running two devices together?
2. Synchronization between two EEG systems
How is synchronization between the two EEG systems typically achieved? Do they support hardware-based synchronization (e.g., shared clock, sync cable) or software-based synchronization?
What is the expected synchronization accuracy or latency between the two systems?
3. Trigger markers and event synchronization
Do the systems support external and/or internal trigger markers?
Can the same trigger be sent simultaneously to both EEG systems during hyperscanning tasks?
Are trigger inputs available via TTL, USB, or software-based event markers (e.g., via Lab Streaming Layer-LSL)?
4. Data visualization and alignment
Is it possible to view or stream data from both EEG systems simultaneously during acquisition?
What is the recommended workflow for aligning and analyzing the two EEG datasets post-acquisition for inter-brain synchrony analysis?
5. Adequacy of the All-in-One Biosensing Kit
Based on your experience, is the All-in-One Biosensing Kit sufficient for EEG hyperscanning studies focused on inter-brain synchrony (IBS)? Or would you recommend any additional hardware for improved timing precision?
6. Training, documentation, and support
Do they provide remote training sessions after purchase, specifically for multi-device or hyperscanning use cases? Are there any manuals, tutorials, example pipelines, or documentation focused on EEG hyperscanning, multi-device synchronization, or dual-stream data acquisition?
Our proposed study is a mixed-method EEG hyperscanning project examining inter-brain synchrony during cooperative social tasks, with a focus on parent and adolescent dyads. Given the complexity of synchronization and trigger alignment in such designs, your guidance will be extremely valuable in helping us finalize the most appropriate setup.
We would greatly appreciate any technical notes, references, or recommendations you can share to support hyperscanning research using OpenBCI systems.
Thank you for your time and support. I look forward to your response.
Comments
Hi Drashti, I'll leave some quick suggestions here, but please also email (sales at openbci.com) to get connected to customer service.
Each Cyton or Ganglion can operate on different radio channels, so there is no interference between simultaneous users.
My suggestion would be to use one of your channels on each system as a 'sync' channel. Then supply low voltage timing marks to both systems on this channel. On Ganglion you would have to use an EEG channel for this. But on Cyton, there are also auxiliary 'external trigger' timing channels available. So those could be used instead, avoiding losing any of your EEG channels.
https://docs.openbci.com/Cyton/CytonExternal/
Latency of the timing marks would be one sample time.
See above link.
Yes using Brainflow and your language of choice (Python, Java, etc.)
https://brainflow.org/
https://brainflow.readthedocs.io/en/stable/Examples.html#python-real-time-plot
That would be up to you, using your external trigger information.
You may wish to speak with sales. You have choices in the electrodes you use. Probably some type of cap would be best for more consistency, placement accuracy, etc.
The trigger sync link was given. There are abundant docs at this link, including tutorials. Changing the Cyton radio channel has been covered in other posts here on the Forum.
https://docs.openbci.com
Please reach out to sales for further suggestions.
Regards, William
This research paper seems highly relevant to your case:
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11134703
https://www.google.com/search?q=EEG+hyperscanning+(brain+synchronization)+using+openbci
Hi William, Thank you so much for taking the time to respond in such detail. This was extremely helpful. I really appreciate the clarity around multi-device setup, synchronization via external triggers, and the BrainFlow workflow. Thank you as well for sharing the IEEE paper, it is very relevant to our use case and gives us a much clearer picture of the limitations and possibilities of OpenBCI-based hyperscanning. I will go through it carefully. We will also reach out to the OpenBCI sales team as suggested to discuss hardware options and feasibility for our study. Thanks again for your guidance and for pointing us in the right direction. I’d love to stay in touch with you as we move forward, in case any additional questions come up where your perspective might be helpful.
No problem.
In the IEEE paper, I believe they mention LSL timestamps. These are less accurate and more finicky than the simple Cyton External Trigger mechanism I mentioned. As long as your subjects are in the same room, the Cyton External Trigger is easiest and most accurate.
They emphasize the "wireless 1GHz" tech they developed. But that was needed for their "full mobility". Same room experiments do not have that requirement.
Regards,