A multi-institutional, international team of researchers led by the lab of Woon-Hong Yeo at the Georgia Institute of Technology combined wireless soft scalp electronics and virtual reality in a BMI system that allows the user to imagine an action and wirelessly control a wheelchair or robotic arm. The team, included researchers from the University of Kent (United Kingdom) and Yonsei University (Republic of Korea). The major advantage of this system to the user, compared to what currently exists, is that it is soft and comfortable to wear, and doesn't have any wires.
The portable EEG system, integrated imperceptible microneedle electrodes with soft wireless circuits, offers improved signal acquisition. Accurately measuring those brain signals is critical to determining what actions a user wants to perform, so the team integrated a powerful machine learning algorithm and virtual reality component to address that challenge. The new system was tested with four human subjects but hasn't been studied with disabled individuals yet. Future work on the system will focus on optimizing electrode placement and more advanced integration of stimulus-based EEG.
More information:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210721120657.htm