Evaluation of a robot as embodied interface for Brain Computer Interface systems

Abstract

This project aims at evaluating the possible advantages of introducing a mobile robot as a physical input/output device in a system of Brain Computer Interface (BCI). In the proposed system, the actions triggered by the subject’s brain activity results in the motions of a physical device in the real world (i.e. the robot), and not only in a modification of a graphical interface. In this early experiment, the robot is just a physical duplicate of the virtual cursor on the screen. The robot just replicates the virtual cursor's movements step by step. The first step was to investigate whether the use of the robot and the feedback provided by the robot’s on- board camera can lead to an higher engagement of the subjects in the task of controlling the BCI.