The direct connection between the human brain and a computer, a so-called Brain-Computer Interface (BCI), is what research groups all over the world are working on feverishly and successfully. A brain-computer interface translates brain waves into control signals. BCIs have been developed during the last years for people with severe disabilities to improve their quality of life. Applications of BCI systems comprise the restoration of movements, communication and environmental control. However, recently BCI applications have been also used in different research areas e.g. in the field of virtual reality.

This g.tec workshop will for the first time demonstrate all major concepts for BCI control: (i) motor imagery for cursor control, (ii) P300 for spelling and smart home control and (iii) SSVEP for robot control. This allows you to see all required hardware and software, the typical training and classifier setup and the achievable accuracies. We will invite three people from the auditorium to participate in this live demonstrations.

We are also proud that Gerwin Schalk from the Wadsworth Center in New York will give a guest lecture about BCI control with ECoG recordings.

Furthermore g.tec will announce the Annual g.tec BCI Award at SFN 2009.

For more information please contact: oehlinger@gtec.at
Web: www.gtec.at

Main topic

- definition of a brain computer interface
- the EEG, non-invasive recording of brain activity
- invasive recordings with ECoG
- assets and drawbacks of EEG-based BCI
- BCI approaches: the slow cortical potentials
- BCI approaches: oscillatory activity, alpha-, mu- and beta rhythms
- BCI approaches: steady-state evoked potentials
- BCI approaches: the P-300 approach
- limits of speed and accuracy with EEG-based BCI applications
- introduction to required hard- and software
- practical introduction: electrode montage, EEG recording
- life BCI-experiment with volunteer subject(s)
- videos: examples of BCI applications

Speaker

Dr. Christoph Guger, CEO of g.tec, Austria
Dr. Gerwin Schalk, Wadsworth Center, Albany, New York
Robert Prückl, g.tec, Austria