Brain-computer interface (BCI) based on steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) have attracted much attention in the field of intelligent robotics. Traditional SSVEP-based BCI systems mostly use synchronized triggers without identifying whether the user is in the control or non-control state, resulting in a system that lacks autonomous control capability. Therefore, this paper proposed a SSVEP asynchronous state recognition method, which constructs an asynchronous state recognition model by fusing multiple time-frequency domain features of electroencephalographic (EEG) signals and combining with a linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to improve the accuracy of SSVEP asynchronous state recognition. Furthermore, addressing the control needs of disabled individuals in multitasking scenarios, a brain-machine fusion system based on SSVEP-BCI asynchronous cooperative control was developed. This system enabled the collaborative control of wearable manipulator and robotic arm, where the robotic arm acts as a “third hand”, offering significant advantages in complex environments. The experimental results showed that using the SSVEP asynchronous control algorithm and brain-computer fusion system proposed in this paper could assist users to complete multitasking cooperative operations. The average accuracy of user intent recognition in online control experiments was 93.0%, which provides a theoretical and practical basis for the practical application of the asynchronous SSVEP-BCI system.
Brain-computer interface (BCI) system is a system that achieves communication and control among humans and computers and other electronic equipment with the electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. This paper describes the working theory of the wireless smart home system based on the BCI technology. We started to get the steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) using the single chip microcomputer and the visual stimulation which composed by LED lamp to stimulate human eyes. Then, through building the power spectral transformation on the LabVIEW platform, we processed timely those EEG signals under different frequency stimulation so as to transfer them to different instructions. Those instructions could be received by the wireless transceiver equipment to control the household appliances and to achieve the intelligent control towards the specified devices. The experimental results showed that the correct rate for the 10 subjects reached 100%, and the control time of average single device was 4 seconds, thus this design could totally achieve the original purpose of smart home system.
Steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) is one of the commonly used control signals in brain-computer interface (BCI) systems. The SSVEP-based BCI has the advantages of high information transmission rate and short training time, which has become an important branch of BCI research field. In this review paper, the main progress on frequency recognition algorithm for SSVEP in past five years are summarized from three aspects, i.e., unsupervised learning algorithms, supervised learning algorithms and deep learning algorithms. Finally, some frontier topics and potential directions are explored.
Steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) has been widely used in the research of brain-computer interface (BCI) system in recent years. The advantages of SSVEP-BCI system include high classification accuracy, fast information transform rate and strong anti-interference ability. Most of the traditional researches induce SSVEP responses in low and middle frequency bands as control signals. However, SSVEP in this frequency band may cause visual fatigue and even induce epilepsy in subjects. In contrast, high-frequency SSVEP-BCI provides a more comfortable and natural interaction despite its lower amplitude and weaker response. Therefore, it has been widely concerned by researchers in recent years. This paper summarized and analyzed the related research of high-frequency SSVEP-BCI in the past ten years from the aspects of paradigm and algorithm. Finally, the application prospect and development direction of high-frequency SSVEP were discussed and prospected.
Brain-computer interface (BCI) has great potential to replace lost upper limb function. Thus, there has been great interest in the development of BCI-controlled robotic arm. However, few studies have attempted to use noninvasive electroencephalography (EEG)-based BCI to achieve high-level control of a robotic arm. In this paper, a high-level control architecture combining augmented reality (AR) BCI and computer vision was designed to control a robotic arm for performing a pick and place task. A steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP)-based BCI paradigm was adopted to realize the BCI system. Microsoft's HoloLens was used to build an AR environment and served as the visual stimulator for eliciting SSVEPs. The proposed AR-BCI was used to select the objects that need to be operated by the robotic arm. The computer vision was responsible for providing the location, color and shape information of the objects. According to the outputs of the AR-BCI and computer vision, the robotic arm could autonomously pick the object and place it to specific location. Online results of 11 healthy subjects showed that the average classification accuracy of the proposed system was 91.41%. These results verified the feasibility of combing AR, BCI and computer vision to control a robotic arm, and are expected to provide new ideas for innovative robotic arm control approaches.
In recent years, hybrid brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have gained significant attention due to their demonstrated advantages in increasing the number of targets and enhancing robustness of the systems. However, Existing studies usually construct BCI systems using intense auditory stimulation and strong central visual stimulation, which lead to poor user experience and indicate a need for improving system comfort. Studies have proved that the use of peripheral visual stimulation and lower intensity of auditory stimulation can effectively boost the user’s comfort. Therefore, this study used high-frequency peripheral visual stimulation and 40-dB weak auditory stimulation to elicit steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) and auditory steady-state response (ASSR) signals, building a high-comfort hybrid BCI based on weak audio-visual evoked responses. This system coded 40 targets via 20 high-frequency visual stimulation frequencies and two auditory stimulation frequencies, improving the coding efficiency of BCI systems. Results showed that the hybrid system’s averaged classification accuracy was (78.00 ± 12.18) %, and the information transfer rate (ITR) could reached 27.47 bits/min. This study offers new ideas for the design of hybrid BCI paradigm based on imperceptible stimulation.
This paper realized a portable brain-computer interface (BCI) system tailored for smart healthcare. Through the decoding of steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP), this system can rapidly and accurately identify the intentions of subjects, thereby meeting the practical demands of daily medical scenarios. Firstly, an SSVEP stimulation interface and an electroencephalogram (EEG) signal acquisition software were designed, which enable the system to execute multi-target and multi-task operations while also incorporating data visualization functionality. Secondly, the EEG signals recorded from the occipital region were decomposed into eight sub-frequency bands using filter bank canonical correlation analysis (FBCCA). Subsequently, the similarity between each sub-band signal and the reference signals was computed to achieve efficient SSVEP decoding. Finally, 15 subjects were recruited to participate in the online evaluation of the system. The experimental results indicated that in real-world scenarios, the system achieved an average accuracy of 85.19% in identifying the intentions of the subjects, and an information transfer rate (ITR) of 37.52 bit/min. This system was awarded third prize in the Visual BCI Innovation Application Development competition at the 2024 World Robot Contest, validating its effectiveness. In conclusion, this study has developed a portable, multifunctional SSVEP online decoding system, providing an effective approach for human-computer interaction in smart healthcare.
Brain control is a new control method. The traditional brain-controlled robot is mainly used to control a single robot to accomplish a specific task. However, the brain-controlled multi-robot cooperation (MRC) task is a new topic to be studied. This paper presents an experimental research which received the "Innovation Creative Award" in the brain-computer interface (BCI) brain-controlled robot contest at the World Robot Contest. Two effective brain switches were set: total control brain switch and transfer switch, and BCI based steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP) was adopted to navigate a humanoid robot and a mechanical arm to complete the cooperation task. Control test of 10 subjects showed that the excellent SSVEP-BCI can be used to achieve the MRC task by appropriately setting up the brain switches. This study is expected to provide inspiration for the future practical brain-controlled MRC task system.
Brain-controlled wheelchair (BCW) is one of the important applications of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. The present research shows that simulation control training is of great significance for the application of BCW. In order to improve the BCW control ability of users and promote the application of BCW under the condition of safety, this paper builds an indoor simulation training system based on the steady-state visual evoked potentials for BCW. The system includes visual stimulus paradigm design and implementation, electroencephalogram acquisition and processing, indoor simulation environment modeling, path planning, and simulation wheelchair control, etc. To test the performance of the system, a training experiment involving three kinds of indoor path-control tasks is designed and 10 subjects were recruited for the 5-day training experiment. By comparing the results before and after the training experiment, it was found that the average number of commands in Task 1, Task 2, and Task 3 decreased by 29.5%, 21.4%, and 25.4%, respectively (P < 0.001). And the average number of commands used by the subjects to complete all tasks decreased by 25.4% (P < 0.001). The experimental results show that the training of subjects through the indoor simulation training system built in this paper can improve their proficiency and efficiency of BCW control to a certain extent, which verifies the practicability of the system and provides an effective assistant method to promote the indoor application of BCW.