A Task Agnostic Mental Fatigue Assessment Approach Based on EEG Frequency Bands for Demanding Maritime Operation

While it is known that one of the major causes of accidents in the maritime domain is excessive mental fatigue, objectively assessing mental fatigue in real-time in maritime operations remains a challenging and unanswered question. In this work, we aimed to develop an approach to assess mental fatigue in maritime operators in real-time and independent of the performed task. The method involves a simple setup comprised of a wireless electroencephalogram device, which provides relevant brain activity data to a mental fatigue assessment algorithm. The proposed algorithm uses normalized electroencephalogram energy information to monitor the development of mental fatigue in maritime operators. We tested our system in a realistic vessel simulator, and the results showed that it can detect the increase of mental fatigue levels.