Why, what and how to start your own BCI project
A practical introduction to brain-computer interfaces: what they are, which EEG devices are worth considering, and the neuroscience you need before you start collecting data.
Brain-computer interfaces can give paralyzed patients back the ability to communicate or control a robotic limb using nothing but brain signals. The barrier to experimenting with them has dropped significantly, with consumer-grade EEG headsets available for a few hundred euros and a growing ecosystem of open-source tooling. This article covers the why, the what, and the practical how: what a BCI actually does, which EEG devices are worth considering, and the neuroscience you need before you start collecting data.
Topics include the different mental tasks BCIs try to decode (motor imagery, event-related potentials, emotion recognition), how to pick an EEG device based on electrode location rather than price, the standardised 10-20 electrode placement system, and why alpha and beta frequency bands over the motor cortex are the signal of interest for motor imagery. Published on Medium, August 2021.