A collaborative Brain-Computer Interface to improve human performance in a visual search task

In this paper we use a collaborative brain-computer interface to integrate the decision confidence of multiple non-communicating observers as a mechanism to improve group decisions. In recent research we tested this idea with the decisions associated with a simple visual matching task and found that a collaborative BCI can outperform group decisions made by a majority vote. Here we extend these initial findings in two ways. Firstly, we look at a more traditional (and more difficult) visual search task involving deciding whether a red vertical bar is present in a random set of 40 red and green, horizontal and vertical bars shown for a very short time. Secondly, to extract features from the neural signals we use spatial CSP filters instead of the spatio-temporal PCA we used in previous research, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of features and free parameters used in the system. Results obtained with 10 participants indicate that for almost all group sizes our new CSP-based collaborative BCI yields group decisions that are statistically significantly better than both traditional (majority-based) group decisions and group decisions made by a PCA-based collaborative BCI.

[1]  J. H. Davis.  Group decision and social interaction: A theory of social decision schemes. , 1973 .

[2]  Misha Pavel,et al.  A framework for rapid visual image search using single-trial brain evoked responses , 2011, Neurocomputing.

[3]  Gert Pfurtscheller,et al.  Brain-computer interface: a new communication device for handicapped persons , 1993 .

[4]  Xingyu Wang,et al.  Regularized CSP with Fisher's criterion to improve classification of single-trial ERPs for BCI , 2012, 2012 9th International Conference on Fuzzy Systems and Knowledge Discovery.

[5]  L. Rabiner,et al.  A computer program for designing optimum FIR linear phase digital filters , 1973 .

[6]  Jonathan R Wolpaw,et al.  Control of a two-dimensional movement signal by a noninvasive brain-computer interface in humans. , 2004, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[7]  D J McFarland,et al.  An EEG-based brain-computer interface for cursor control. , 1991, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[8]  Riccardo Poli,et al.  Collaborative brain-computer interfaces for the automatic classification of images , 2013, 2013 6th International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering (NER).

[9]  Keng Peng Tee,et al.  EEG-Based Classification of Fast and Slow Hand Movements Using Wavelet-CSP Algorithm , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[10]  R. Duncan Luce,et al.  Response Times: Their Role in Inferring Elementary Mental Organization , 1986 .

[11]  N. Kerr,et al.  Bias in judgment: Comparing individuals and groups. , 1996 .

[12]  C. Cinel,et al.  Multi-brain fusion and applications to intelligence analysis , 2013, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[13]  N. Kerr,et al.  Group performance and decision making. , 2004, Annual review of psychology.

[14]  D. Kahneman,et al.  Representativeness revisited: Attribute substitution in intuitive judgment. , 2002 .

[15]  Leonard Branson,et al.  WHEN TWO HEADS ARE WORSE THAN ONE: IMPACT OF GROUP STYLE AND INFORMATION TYPE ON PERFORMANCE EVALUATION , 2010 .

[16]  A. Stoica,et al.  Improving decision-making based on visual perception via a collaborative brain-computer interface , 2013, 2013 IEEE International Multi-Disciplinary Conference on Cognitive Methods in Situation Awareness and Decision Support (CogSIMA).

[17]  Peng Yuan,et al.  Study on an online collaborative BCI to accelerate response to visual targets , 2012, 2012 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[18]  R. Tibshirani,et al.  Least angle regression , 2004, math/0406456.

[19]  Colin Camerer,et al.  Neural Systems Responding to Degrees of Uncertainty in Human Decision-Making , 2005, Science.

[20]  Jonathan D. Cohen,et al.  The Neural Basis of Economic Decision-Making in the Ultimatum Game , 2003, Science.

[21]  Tzyy-Ping Jung,et al.  A Collaborative Brain-Computer Interface for Improving Human Performance , 2011, PloS one.

[22]  G. Pfurtscheller,et al.  Optimal spatial filtering of single trial EEG during imagined hand movement. , 2000, IEEE transactions on rehabilitation engineering : a publication of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[23]  Cuntai Guan,et al.  Filter Bank Common Spatial Pattern (FBCSP) in Brain-Computer Interface , 2008, 2008 IEEE International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence).

[24]  H. Flor,et al.  A spelling device for the paralysed , 1999, Nature.

[25]  Motoaki Kawanabe,et al.  Stationary common spatial patterns for brain–computer interfacing , 2012, Journal of neural engineering.

[26]  Riccardo Poli,et al.  Collaborative Brain-Computer Interface for Aiding Decision-Making , 2014, PloS one.

[27]  P. Sajda,et al.  Response error correction-a demonstration of improved human-machine performance using real-time EEG monitoring , 2003, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.

[28]  E. Donchin,et al.  Talking off the top of your head: toward a mental prosthesis utilizing event-related brain potentials. , 1988, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[29]  Riccardo Poli,et al.  Towards cooperative brain-computer interfaces for space navigation , 2013, IUI '13.

[30]  Craig K. Abbey,et al.  Neural decoding of collective wisdom with multi-brain computing , 2012, NeuroImage.

[31]  Makoto Sato,et al.  Single-trial classification of vowel speech imagery using common spatial patterns , 2009, Neural Networks.

[32]  P. R. Laughlin,et al.  Groups perform better than the best individuals on letters-to-numbers problems: effects of group size. , 2006, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

[33]  R D Sorkin,et al.  Signal-detection analysis of group decision making. , 2001, Psychological review.

[34]  R. Ratcliff,et al.  Neural Representation of Task Difficulty and Decision Making during Perceptual Categorization: A Timing Diagram , 2006, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[35]  P. Sajda,et al.  Cortically coupled computer vision for rapid image search , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.

[36]  Tzyy-Ping Jung,et al.  A Collaborative Brain-Computer Interface for Accelerating Human Decision Making , 2013, HCI.

[37]  Jason Ivanoff,et al.  Performance Asymmetries in Computer Mouse Control of Right-Handers, and Left-Handers with Left- and Right-Handed Mouse Experience. , 1999, Journal of motor behavior.

[38]  Gregory P. Lee,et al.  Different Contributions of the Human Amygdala and Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex to Decision-Making , 1999, The Journal of Neuroscience.