The Self-Paced Graz Brain-Computer Interface: Methods and Applications

Scherer, Reinhold; Schloegl, Alois; Lee, Felix; Bischof, Horst; Janša, Janez; Pfurtscheller, Gert

doi:https://doi.org/10.1155/2007/79826

Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience

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Brain-Computer Interfaces: Towards Practical Implementations and Potential Applications

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Research Article | Open Access

Volume 2007 | Article ID 079826 | https://doi.org/10.1155/2007/79826

The Self-Paced Graz Brain-Computer Interface: Methods and Applications

Reinhold Scherer,^1,2Alois Schloegl,³Felix Lee,⁴Horst Bischof,⁴Janez Janša,⁵and Gert Pfurtscheller^1,2

Academic Editor: Fabio Babiloni

Received25 Feb 2007

Revised13 Jun 2007

Accepted19 Jul 2007

Published28 Aug 2007

Abstract

We present the self-paced 3-class Graz brain-computer interface (BCI) which is based on the detection of sensorimotor electroencephalogram (EEG) rhythms induced by motor imagery. Self-paced operation means that the BCI is able to determine whether the ongoing brain activity is intended as control signal (intentional control) or not (non-control state). The presented system is able to automatically reduce electrooculogram (EOG) artifacts, to detect electromyographic (EMG) activity, and uses only three bipolar EEG channels. Two applications are presented: the freeSpace virtual environment (VE) and the Brainloop interface. The freeSpace is a computer-game-like application where subjects have to navigate through the environment and collect coins by autonomously selecting navigation commands. Three subjects participated in these feedback experiments and each learned to navigate through the VE and collect coins. Two out of the three succeeded in collecting all three coins. The Brainloop interface provides an interface between the Graz-BCI and Google Earth.

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Copyright

Copyright © 2007 Reinhold Scherer et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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