Functional Near-Infrared Sensing (fNIR) and Environmental Control Applications

Functional near-infrared (fNIR) sensing is a relatively young brain imaging technique, yet one that holds great promise for brain-computer interfaces. Measuring essentially the same signals as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), fNIR acts as a single-point monitor of oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin concentrations for localized sensing with greatly lowered costs and hardware requirements. As an optical sensing technique, fNIR is more robust to ambient electrical noise that affects the electroencephalogram (EEG) signal. The reduced hardware requirements and robustness in noisy environments make fNIR well-suited for brain-computer interface systems as it poses few physical restrictions on the operator and can be implemented in a wide range of applications and scenarios.