A Single-Channel SSVEP-Based Instrument With Off-the-Shelf Components for Trainingless Brain-Computer Interfaces

Abstract

A high wearable instrument for brain-computer interface (BCI), based on steady-state visual evoked potentials, and conceived with low-cost, off-the-shelf components, is proposed. Peculiar features are: 1) a single-channel differential acquisition; 2) active transducers using dry electrodes with metallic pins; 3) real-time computation based on Goertzel algorithm, lighter than fast Fourier transform; and 4) absence of training need before the first use. In this way, the proposed instrument overcomes the state-of-the art issues of comfort, wearability, signal quality, and feasibility on limited resources devices (e.g., tablets or smartphones) of BCI applications. The accuracy results of the instrument prototype, assessed in an experimental campaign on human subjects in laboratory, foster its application in wearable biomedical devices.