Brain-computer interface. Part three. Weekdays

    Hello Habr.
    About three months ago, I posted reviews ( text and video ) on the brain-computer interface of Emotiv Epoc . A large number of questions were received on the topic of how to use it, where to purchase it, and generally how it is. In order to somehow alleviate my fate, I made a small FAQ . But it only partially helped me.

    And now, 3 months have passed.

    The main wave of questions subsided. But many are asked to tell, well, what's next. Already reading thoughts, or not yet? No, I do not read. But he promised to write an article with what happened during this time. It turned out five mini-messages on the topic.

    First of all, I met a large number of developers in different parts of our, and not only our country, who would like to write something for this device. And on the one hand, they do it, but on the other, it’s not. For now, fill the bumps. Some simply messed up and ordered the base version, instead of the developer versions. Someone ordered two devices at once. In general, I would say that work is moving slowly, because this is only the beginning of such devices. Plus a session, plus summer. Personally, after the diploma I want to finish off my implementation of the virtual keyboard for this device. Similar, Intendix keyboards, which was recently shown on CeBIT'e. Someone writes an addon to a client for one of the MMORPG toys, someone is experimenting with photos and audio. Someone just drives a cube and learns to control the mouse. There are many potential applications. I also bought half a liter of liquid for contact lenses. You should have seen pharmacists at the pharmacy when I bought the bottle.

    Secondly, I climbed into several interesting communities on the topic. The official forum , of course, is good, but obviously not enough. I came across a community site developing a large universal library for neurocomputer interfaces. There is not only Emotiv Epoc, but also many others, which have already been repeatedly mentioned on the pages of Habrahabr. I stumbled, in the end, on the site of a large domestic community that is engaged inneuroscience . There are not only neural interfaces, there are a lot of things on the topic. Then you can simply follow the links of these sites. About open communities like OpenEEG has already been mentioned in comments to one of the previous articles. Therefore, I will not repeat myself. Another very good friend gave a link to the source , with which you can squeeze out a bit more features from your device by making a small hack.

    Thirdly, I recently saw this device on TV. Passion of hate. Journalists are such journalists. Guys sagely broadcastabout the device. The device itself is shown from 1:15, it is impossible to make a mistake. But I advise you to watch all the videos. Frankly, the feelings are contradictory. Studio guests are talking about the site on which to register in order to try to use the device. I found this site . Sharpened under Firefox. But something I did not find anything sensible there. Actually, a discussion of their activities. I do not know. End of hate paragraph.

    Fourth. May 9, in honor of Victory Day, received guests with relatives. I was solemnly charged with entertaining the twelve-year-old girl. What I think and managed. In general, we fastened the device to her and tried to move the cube (as in one of the videos). In 15 minutes, she learned to make 2 arbitrary movements and their combination of choice. After another 5-10 minutes, she was able to work with three movements at the same time. The fourth was with difficulty and in part.
    Wherein. The interface was not completely connected to the head, as it is designed for adult size. Therefore, only sensors in the occipital part and partially sensors in the middle of the head worked. And it worked even in that mode! She did what I learned to do for 2 weeks in 15 minutes and that doesn’t always work out for me. Just in case, I checked her mom too (well, all of a sudden they have the whole family like that). Mom showed the usual result for beginners. The brain is absent. One movement and chaotically the second.
    In general, a flexible young brain works wonders. After conferring with a friend, we decided to catch some younger tribe and also try what happens. There is still an assumption that due to the lack of signals from the frontal lobes (since it simply did not reach the entire head), there was no signal interference, or the signal was simpler, and therefore it turned out so easily. It seems that with a few electrodes disconnected, the recognition situation is better. Again, you need to check and consult with more experienced comrades.

    And the last, fifth point. I think the most important in today's article. Something like a break-in device, in combat conditions. It so happened that fate brought me together with one amazing person. He generates very good ideas, catches everything on the fly, kind, sincere and understanding. Looking for a wife. And this, or a similar device, he really needs. It really makes his life easier. He has cerebral palsyquite severe form. Friends from America suggested that he buy this device. He bought it. I helped him set up and learn how to use this device. Only now, it didn’t work out very well. Although they tried very hard. In this disease, the brain encephalogram is different. Plus tremor, which does not allow the use of signals from the muscles to the fullest. Therefore, we could not use all the capabilities of the device physically. But even in these limited conditions, we were able to learn how to use the left and right mouse click. And even move it a little. Frankly, I was struck by both perseverance and the speed with which the development of the device took place. But, unfortunately, such use requires too much effort, with a not very large output effect. The more traditional input methods for him turned out to be less laborious.As a result, now his device is lying around idle. If someone has a desire to purchase a device, knock on me in PM. SOLD

    At his suggestion, in the near future we will try to experiment with him with the system of IT tracking or, more precisely, geystracking. Fortunately, there are no problems. With me, as usual, a report or review. Another option, he suggests making sensors attached to the eyelids to simulate mouse clicks. But it is already necessary to solder the iron. Anyone wanting to try to do such a thing?

    That's all for today. Thanks for attention.

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