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Adaptive interface to control technology by thought

A new adaptive cerebral interface has just been designed by Carmen Vidaurre Arbizu, an engineer from Pamplona, Spain. The design is completely adaptive and so reduces the time required to become a skilled operator and enhances the control of the user. The aim of a cerebral interface or brain–computer interface (BCI) is to control technology by thought. The technology supports individuals with communication problems, allowing them to relate to their surroundings more effectively via electrophysiological signals from the brain. Vidaurre’s design utilizes electroencephalograms of the individual, however, there are other recording systems that can be used. Previously the user and the interface acted in an inter-dependent manner. However, Vidaurre’s system provides feedback to the user. The system consists of two in-line adaptive classifications within a completely adaptive interface and is capable of supplying feedback to inexpert individuals in the first stages of its use. With this system, the interface and the individual adjust to each other, one learning from the other in a reciprocal manner. In this way it has been possible to eliminate the initial trial sessions that previously took place without feedback, thus diminishing the total skill acquisition time and enabling individuals to adapt to an operating strategy directly with the use of feedback. Trials carried out on individuals without prior experience demonstrate that the majority of the population is capable of learning to control an adaptive BCI. In fact, in the trials undertaken with 30 people in Austria and Pamplona, it was found that 20 had been able to control the interface ‘very well’ within 4 h.