Self-paced (asynchronous) BCI control of a wheelchair in virtual environments: a case study with a tetraplegic

  • Authors:

  • Robert Leeb;Doron Friedman;Gernot R. Müller-Putz;Reinhold Scherer;Mel Slater;Gert Pfurtscheller

  • Affiliations:

  • Laboratory of Brain-Computer Interfaces, Institute for Knowledge Discovery, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria;Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK and Sammy Ofer School of Communications, The Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel;Laboratory of Brain-Computer Interfaces, Institute for Knowledge Discovery, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria;Laboratory of Brain-Computer Interfaces, Institute for Knowledge Discovery, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria;Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK and Catalan Institute of Research and Advanced Studies, Polytechnic University of Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain;Laboratory of Brain-Computer Interfaces, Institute for Knowledge Discovery, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria

  • Venue:
  • Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience - Brain-Computer Interfaces: Towards Practical Implementations and Potential Applications
  • Year:
  • 2007

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Abstract

The aim of the present study was to demonstrate for the first time that brain waves can be used by a tetraplegic to control movements of his wheelchair in virtual reality (VR). In this case study, the spinal cord injured (SCI) subject was able to generate bursts of beta oscillations in the electroencephalogram (EEG) by imagination of movements of his paralyzed feet. These beta oscillations were used for a self-paced (asynchronous) brain-computer interface (BCI) control based on a single bipolar EEG recording. The subject was placed inside a virtual street populated with avatars. The task was to "go" from avatar to avatar towards the end of the street, but to stop at each avatar and talk to them. In average, the participant was able to successfully perform this asynchronous experiment with a performance of 90%, single runs up to 100%.