Robust Brain-computer interface for virtual Keyboard (RoBIK): project results

Louis Mayaud (1, 2) , Sabine Filipe (3) , Lucie Petegnief (4) , Olivier Rochecouste (5) , Marco Congedo (6)

1 LM - CICIT
2 IBME - Institute of Biomedical Engineering [Oxford]
3 CEA-LETI - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives - Laboratoire d'Electronique et de Technologie de l'Information
4 DIXI Microtechniques
5 Davidson Consulting
6 GIPSA-VIBS - GIPSA - Vision and Brain Signal Processing

Brain-ComputerInterface (BCI)is a technology that translatesthe brain electrical activity into a command for a device such as a robotic arm, a wheelchair or a spelling device. BCIs have long been described as an assistive technology forseverely disabled patients because they completely bypass the need for muscular activity. The clinical reality is however dramatically different and most patients who use BCIs today are doing so as part of constraining clinical trials. To achieve the technological transfer from bench to bedside, BCI must gain ease of use and robustness of bothmeasure (electroencephalography [EEG]) and interface (signal processing and applications).TheRobustBrain-computerInterface for virtual Keyboard (RoBIK) project aimed atthe development of aBCIsystemfor communication that could be used on a daily basis by patientswithoutthe help of a trained teamofresearchers.To guide further developments cliniciansfirst assessed patients' needs.The prototype subsequently developed consisted in a 14 felt-pad electrodes EEG headsetsampling at 256Hz by an electronic component capable of transmitting signals wirelessly. The application was a virtual keyboard generating a novelstimulation paradigm to elicit P300 Evoked Related Potentials(ERPs) for communication. Raw EEG signals were treated with OpenViBE open-source software including novelsignal processing and stimulation techniques.

Domaines: Intelligence artificielle [cs.AI]; Ingénierie biomédicale

Louis Mayaud, Sabine Filipe, Lucie Petegnief, Olivier Rochecouste, Marco Congedo. Robust Brain-computer interface for virtual Keyboard (RoBIK): project results. Innovation and Research in BioMedical engineering, 2013, 34 (2), pp.131-138. ⟨10.1016/j.irbm.2013.01.013⟩. ⟨hal-00805549⟩