Fraunhofer Center for Assistive Information and Communication Solutions – AICOSDescription:
Brain waves show different rhythmic activities according to the individual’s level of consciousness. These rhythms are captured in different areas of the cortex and are affected by different actions and thoughts. They can be grouped in order to detect brain activity patterns, and the identification of these patterns could be used to give direct commands to computers with the intention of performing specific tasks by only using our thoughts. The detection of brain wave patterns for a specific task is not straightforward due to the unique brain responses of each individual (even for the same tasks), so the system has to be previously trained for the tasks we want to detect. The training process consists in thinking about performing that specific task and detecting the brain wave patterns associated to that assignment. In the case of applications for disabled people: hands free applications to control an electric wheelchair; Monitoring sleep disorders - currently people are required to spend entire nights at clinics in order to perform these tests; early detection of epileptic seizures; Games: controlling virtual environments only with the mind; Neuromarketing.
Author: Lourenço Castro
Type: MSc thesis
Partner: Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto
Year: 2013