Last month, a co-authored paper with title ‘Assessing the Usability of a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) that Detects Attention Levels in an Assessment Exercise’ was presented by a colleague of mine at the 13th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction at San Diego, California, USA. The paper presented the results of a usability evaluation of the NeuroSky’s MindBuilder –EM (MB). Until recently most Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) have been designed for clinical and research purposes partly due to their size and complexity. However, a new generation of consumer-oriented BCI has appeared for the video game industry. The MB, a headset with a single electrode, is based on electro-encephalogram readings (EEG) capturing faint electrical signals generated by neural activity.
The electrical signals across the electrode are measured to determine levels of attention and then translated into binary data. The paper presented the results of an evaluation to assess the usability of the MB by defining a model of attention to fuse attention signals with user-generated data in a Second Life assessment exercise. The results of this evaluation suggest that the MB provides accurate readings regarding attention, since there is a positive correlation between measured and self reported attention levels. The results also suggest there are some usability and technical problems with its operation. Future research is presented consisting of the definition of a standardized reading methodology and an algorithm to level out the natural fluctuation of users’ attention levels when used as inputs.
A draft version of the paper can be downloaded from here.
A draft version of the paper can be downloaded from here.