Tradeoff between User Experience and BCI Classification Accuracy with Frequency Modulated Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials
Steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) have been widely employed for the control of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) because they are very robust, lead to high performance, and allow for a high number of commands. However, such flickering stimuli often also cause user discomfort and fatigue,...
Main Authors: | , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-07-01
|
Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00391/full |
id |
doaj-bdb4752ac3364c2b82a2c50378050616 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-bdb4752ac3364c2b82a2c503780506162020-11-25T03:16:24ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612017-07-011110.3389/fnhum.2017.00391265456Tradeoff between User Experience and BCI Classification Accuracy with Frequency Modulated Steady-State Visual Evoked PotentialsAlexander M. Dreyer0Christoph S. Herrmann1Christoph S. Herrmann2Jochem W. Rieger3Jochem W. Rieger4Applied Neurocognitive Psychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Center for Excellence “Hearing4all”, European Medical School, Carl von Ossietzky UniversityOldenburg, GermanyExperimental Psychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Center for Excellence “Hearing4all”, European Medical School, Carl von Ossietzky UniversityOldenburg, GermanyResearch Center Neurosensory Science, Carl von Ossietzky UniversityOldenburg, GermanyApplied Neurocognitive Psychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Center for Excellence “Hearing4all”, European Medical School, Carl von Ossietzky UniversityOldenburg, GermanyResearch Center Neurosensory Science, Carl von Ossietzky UniversityOldenburg, GermanySteady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) have been widely employed for the control of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) because they are very robust, lead to high performance, and allow for a high number of commands. However, such flickering stimuli often also cause user discomfort and fatigue, especially when several light sources are used simultaneously. Different variations of SSVEP driving signals have been proposed to increase user comfort. Here, we investigate the suitability of frequency modulation of a high frequency carrier for SSVEP-BCIs. We compared BCI performance and user experience between frequency modulated (FM) and traditional sinusoidal (SIN) SSVEPs in an offline classification paradigm with four independently flickering light-emitting diodes which were overtly attended (fixated). While classification performance was slightly reduced with the FM stimuli, the user comfort was significantly increased. Comparing the SSVEPs for covert attention to the stimuli (without fixation) was not possible, as no reliable SSVEPs were evoked. Our results reveal that several, simultaneously flickering, light emitting diodes can be used to generate FM-SSVEPs with different frequencies and the resulting occipital electroencephalography (EEG) signals can be classified with high accuracy. While the performance we report could be further improved with adjusted stimuli and algorithms, we argue that the increased comfort is an important result and suggest the use of FM stimuli for future SSVEP-BCI applications.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00391/fullsteady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP)frequency modulationbrain-computer interface (BCI)electroencephalography (EEG)spatial attention |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Alexander M. Dreyer Christoph S. Herrmann Christoph S. Herrmann Jochem W. Rieger Jochem W. Rieger |
spellingShingle |
Alexander M. Dreyer Christoph S. Herrmann Christoph S. Herrmann Jochem W. Rieger Jochem W. Rieger Tradeoff between User Experience and BCI Classification Accuracy with Frequency Modulated Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials Frontiers in Human Neuroscience steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP) frequency modulation brain-computer interface (BCI) electroencephalography (EEG) spatial attention |
author_facet |
Alexander M. Dreyer Christoph S. Herrmann Christoph S. Herrmann Jochem W. Rieger Jochem W. Rieger |
author_sort |
Alexander M. Dreyer |
title |
Tradeoff between User Experience and BCI Classification Accuracy with Frequency Modulated Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials |
title_short |
Tradeoff between User Experience and BCI Classification Accuracy with Frequency Modulated Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials |
title_full |
Tradeoff between User Experience and BCI Classification Accuracy with Frequency Modulated Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials |
title_fullStr |
Tradeoff between User Experience and BCI Classification Accuracy with Frequency Modulated Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tradeoff between User Experience and BCI Classification Accuracy with Frequency Modulated Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials |
title_sort |
tradeoff between user experience and bci classification accuracy with frequency modulated steady-state visual evoked potentials |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
issn |
1662-5161 |
publishDate |
2017-07-01 |
description |
Steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) have been widely employed for the control of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) because they are very robust, lead to high performance, and allow for a high number of commands. However, such flickering stimuli often also cause user discomfort and fatigue, especially when several light sources are used simultaneously. Different variations of SSVEP driving signals have been proposed to increase user comfort. Here, we investigate the suitability of frequency modulation of a high frequency carrier for SSVEP-BCIs. We compared BCI performance and user experience between frequency modulated (FM) and traditional sinusoidal (SIN) SSVEPs in an offline classification paradigm with four independently flickering light-emitting diodes which were overtly attended (fixated). While classification performance was slightly reduced with the FM stimuli, the user comfort was significantly increased. Comparing the SSVEPs for covert attention to the stimuli (without fixation) was not possible, as no reliable SSVEPs were evoked. Our results reveal that several, simultaneously flickering, light emitting diodes can be used to generate FM-SSVEPs with different frequencies and the resulting occipital electroencephalography (EEG) signals can be classified with high accuracy. While the performance we report could be further improved with adjusted stimuli and algorithms, we argue that the increased comfort is an important result and suggest the use of FM stimuli for future SSVEP-BCI applications. |
topic |
steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP) frequency modulation brain-computer interface (BCI) electroencephalography (EEG) spatial attention |
url |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00391/full |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT alexandermdreyer tradeoffbetweenuserexperienceandbciclassificationaccuracywithfrequencymodulatedsteadystatevisualevokedpotentials AT christophsherrmann tradeoffbetweenuserexperienceandbciclassificationaccuracywithfrequencymodulatedsteadystatevisualevokedpotentials AT christophsherrmann tradeoffbetweenuserexperienceandbciclassificationaccuracywithfrequencymodulatedsteadystatevisualevokedpotentials AT jochemwrieger tradeoffbetweenuserexperienceandbciclassificationaccuracywithfrequencymodulatedsteadystatevisualevokedpotentials AT jochemwrieger tradeoffbetweenuserexperienceandbciclassificationaccuracywithfrequencymodulatedsteadystatevisualevokedpotentials |
_version_ |
1724636390981894144 |