Welcome to our BCI lab
We are a team of researchers in Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, Kleve, Germany, led by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ivan Volosyak. Our main research focus is Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) with the aim to develop effective and efficient BCI systems for everyday use, for healthy people as well as BCI assistance devices for people with disabilities.
What is BCI?
A Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) is not science fiction, it is simply a system that allows people to communicate through brain signals without the need for any muscular movement. It provides an artificial output that is different from the usual natural output of the nervous system. There are various applications developed based on BCI. Currently in research, BCI is used to help people with a wheelchair to stand up, give people who could not communicate a mean to express themselves, repairing damaged sight and help training children with ADHD, just to mention a few examples. BCI has also other applications e.g. in the robotics field, video gaming and virtual reality. Our BCI systems measure brain signals non-invasively with the aid of an electroencephalogram (EEG) and derive computer commands from them. These commands can be used to develop applications to help people with movement and/or communication disabilities. It can also be utilized to develop a robust BCI system for controlling devices used in everyday life.
What is EEG?
EEG is a non-invasive technique which uses surface electrodes placed on the scalp, with the means of an EEG cap, to measure and record signal from the brain. It reveals the summation of the signals from thousands of neurons (brain cells) that are beneath the scalp which have a radial orientation with respect to the skull. The spatial resolution of EEG is usually poor; it cannot detect exactly where the signal was originated due to the damping of the signal during traveling to the surface, from the source of the signal, through layers of tissue and bone. However, it has a good temporal resolution as it detects the signal as soon as it is generated. The attained signal is in the range of microvolts. Hence, the use of powerful amplifiers and filter are needed to record the signal and filter out the noise. Usually, a conductive gel is applied between the electrode and the scalp to insure conductivity and to decrease the impedance between them.
In our Lab, we use an EEG head cap with standard Ag/AgCl EEG electrodes connected to the g.USBamp biosignal amplifier (Guger Technologies, Graz, Austria).
Experiments
We want to further develop our systems and make them available for various industrial sectors. To improve our research systems, it is necessary to examine the EEG signals of several subjects. Participation in this scientific study is completely voluntary. Usually, we receive the below two questions from most of our participants:
- Could your thoughts be read or recorded? NO. No specific thoughts can be detected in the measured EEG activity.
- Can the system transfer thoughts to my brain? NO. In EEG measurements, only the naturally occurring brain activity is measured. The signal always travels from the brain, through the electrodes, to the amplifier and never the opposite way.