A Brain Computer Interface for Enhancing the Communication of People with Severe Impairment

We present a novel approach for providing people with severe impairment the possibility of collecting feedbacks and communication prompts using a Brain Computer Interface (BCI). In particular we implemented an experimental apparatus, based on MindWave; the latter is a low cost and well known BCI device released by NeuroSky®, based on a dry single electrode and designed for enhancing Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), especially for videogames [8]. Even if BCI is an emerging research area and appears to be still relatively immature, the expected future impact on HCI is really considerable. The experimental apparatus allows users to interact with the computer only through their brain biological signals, without the need for using muscles. The BCI system is based on the Steady—State Visual Evoked Potential (SSVEP). The SSVEP is generated in presence of a repetitive visual stimuli; in our experiment two different visual stimuli are available: when the patient looks at one of the stimuli the SVVEP signal is generated and she/he can express a decision or respond to a question. Even if the experiment has been tested only on a very limited patient set, the results are extremely promising.