Brain-computer interfaces (BCI), which are able to read brain activity and turn the data into real actions such as moving a wheelchair, have the potential to liberate many severely disabled people. While a lot of progress has been achieved in this field, BCIs are still extremely limited in what they’re able to achieve and how well they respond to the user.
Now researchers from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Geneva, Switzerland, have shown that by having the person and the computer that it interfaces with both learn how to work with each other can quickly improve performance. Two individuals were put through repeat training using a BCI, while the BCI was made to adapt to the individuals’ unique brain patterns.
The study, published in journal PLOS Biology, is a follow-up to an event held at the Cybathlon competition in Switzerland, in which people with disabilities compete using a variety of high-tech assistive devices.
Study in PLOS Biology: The Cybathlon BCI race: Successful longitudinal mutual learning with two tetraplegic users…
Via: EPFL…