Long Multi-Stage Training for a Motor-Impaired User in a BCI Competition

• Main Authors: Federica Turi, Maureen Clerc, Théodore Papadopoulo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-03-01
• Series: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
• Subjects: brain-computer interface; mental imagery; MI-BCI; event-related desynchronization/synchronization (ERD/ERS); long training; impaired subject
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2021.647908/full

In a Mental Imagery Brain-Computer Interface the user has to perform a specific mental task that generates electroencephalography (EEG) components, which can be translated in commands to control a BCI system. The development of a high-performance MI-BCI requires a long training, lasting several weeks or months, in order to improve the ability of the user to manage his/her mental tasks. This works aims to present the design of a MI-BCI combining mental imaginary and cognitive tasks for a severely motor impaired user, involved in the BCI race of the Cybathlon event, a competition of people with severe motor disability. In the BCI-race, the user becomes a pilot in a virtual race game against up to three other pilots, in which each pilot has to control his/her virtual car by his/her mental tasks. We present all the procedures followed to realize an effective MI-BCI, from the user's first contact with a BCI technology to actually controlling a video-game through her EEG. We defined a multi-stage user-centered training protocol in order to successfully control a BCI, even in a stressful situation, such as that of a competition. We put a specific focus on the human aspects that influenced the long training phase of the system and the participation to the competition.