Brain computer interface: A review

Abstract

A brain-computer interface (BCI), also referred to as a mind-machine interface (MMI) or a brain-machine interface (BMI), provides a non-muscular channel of communication between the human brain and a computer system. With the advancements in low-cost electronics and computer interface equipment, as well as the need to serve people suffering from disabilities of neuromuscular disorders, a new field of research has emerged by understanding different functions of the brain. The electroencephalogram (EEG) is an electrical activity generated by brain structures and recorded from the scalp surface through electrodes. Researchers primarily rely on EEG to characterise the brain activity, because it can be recorded non-invasively by using portable equipment. The EEG or the brain activity can be used in real time to control external devices via a complete BCI system. A typical BCI scheme generally consists of a data acquisition system, pre-processing of the acquired signals, feature extraction process, classification of the features, post-processing of the classifier output, and finally the control interface and device controller. The post-processed output signals are translated into appropriate commands so as to control output devices, with several applications such as robotic arms, video games, wheelchair etc.