Imagine putting on a Virtual Reality headset, seeing the virtual world around you and then navigating through it using your own thoughts. It can be done with a new game from startup Neurable.
Neurable recently introduced the first brain-controlled VR game at the SIGGRAPH conference in Los Angeles, a conference focused on computer graphics.
BCI
Neurable is a startup that focuses on brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) needed to control the brain. The most common form of BCI uses scalp electrodes to record electrical signals in the brain. Software then translates these signals into commands for external devices such as computer cursors and robotic bodies. Neurable designs that crucial BCI software.
The game presented at SIGGRAPH is a collaboration between Neurable and Spanish company estudiofuture, focusing on VR graphics. It is mainly intended as a demo of Neurable's technology and its capabilities. Neurable does not provide any hardware. The software uses an already existing HTC Vive headset in which the standard elastic band has been replaced by one from Neurable, which features seven electrodes.
The game
The game shown to the public by its creators during SIGGRAPH is called Awakening, which means you play with your brain. In the game, you can, among other things, actively pick up objects with your mind, stop laser beams and turn your robot dog into a balloon animal. It's a complete hands-free experience; you don't use controllers.
In the game, you are a child; you wake up in a cell and try to escape from a government lab. There are objects around you that children would normally play with, such as blocks. As you focus your attention on the various items, you interact with them. In doing so, you discover clues on how to escape from the lab. Then you move on to another room where you take on robots, among other things. All interactions - moving forward, grabbing objects, fighting robots - are all done without hands.
During the fair, the developers noticed a lot of positive reactions to the game. "Many people are scpetical at first, because BCI has often been a disappointment for them before," Alcaide said. "But as soon as a they grab an item, they get a smile on their face. You can tell they are happy that it really works." The startup therefore has big plans. "We are targeting VR play halls in 2018. What we are showing now is a condensed version, as we are not a gaming or hardware company. But VR play halls using our technology, we want to provide this game initially. The Awakening game is a nice introduction as you use your powers like a child, and we also make people aware of the potential of the next generation of BCIs."
Brain signals
CEO Ramses Alcaide, who has a PhD in neuroscience, explains to Spectrum that his technology does not use EEG brainwave patterns - which are acculturated with concentration and relaxation - as control signals. However, those signals are already used by a number of BCI devices now on the market. Neurable's software records the more specific signals that arise when the brain responds to a stimulus, creating an intention-based interaction method.
These brain signals are also called event-related potentials (ERPs), or electrophysiological responses of the brain to events in the environment. Alcaide explains it as follows: "You can look at event-related potentials (ERPs) in a simple way. When you get to the core, you can see what a person cares about. When someone cares about something, they want to take action on it. The game can predict what that action is."
In the future, Neurable wants to integrate motor imagery (in short, a mental process in which a person simulates a given action), but right now that is not possible. "Because brain signals related to imagined body movements are so physically defined, this is not a natural interface for the user and it takes a long time to train someone. We definitely want to use motor imagery in the future, but current approaches to this are not suitable for consumer technology."
Electrodes
The tape that Neurable uses, with the seven electrodes on it, still looks a bit crude at the moment, that will also be worked on in due course. "In the short term, we will use the current bands. In the long term, we envisage headset manufacturers adding electrodes to their designs and licensing our software so they can use them. Our software can also work with smaller and fewer electrodes. The shape factor is the easiest part of the problem." The hardest part of this technology, according to Alcaide, is interpreting user intent accurately and responsively. "It took me 13 years to make the technology ready for use for a consumer product. That's saying something." The electrodes on the headband do have to be placed in certain places because the technology is based on science. "Most companies take a lot of information from the brain and hope they get enough data to make their devices work. That is not our tactic."
By: Kelly Bakker
Source: Neurable/Spectrum
