Dhruva/EEG research

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I was interested in working with brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), so I had to do some research to find out which are the best, most affordable, and most hackable options out there.

This is what I came up with:

Summary

Table.png


Emotive

Mostly intended for gaming


EPOC

https://www.emotiv.com/epoc/

14 channels (+2 reference)

9 axis motion sensors (for removal of motion artifacts)

Saline electrodes (no gel)

Bluetooth connection

800 USD or 53640 INR


Insight

5 channels (+2 reference)

9 axis motion sensors

Long life semi-dry polymer electrodes

Bluetooth or custom wireless USB receiver


Hackability

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1687432

https://raphaelwimmer.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/emotiv-epoc-brain-computer-interface-cracked-open/

“We strongly oppose this kind of action. It violates the end user license and seriously threatens our viability.” - Emotiv


Bottom Line

Not really hackable, company is making significant efforts to prevent it.


MUSE

http://www.choosemuse.com


Features

http://developer.choosemuse.com/technical-specifications

Three axis accelerometer

4 channels (one reference)

“decent” output signal quality. For basic readings, it does the job.


Hackability

Company encourages using it in novel ways

http://www.choosemuse.com/blog/3-hack-tacular-muse-modifications/

Seems to be the wearable to hack for a lot of people.

https://qz.com/900211/netflix-nflx-engineers-developed-a-hack-called-mindflix-with-a-muse-headband-that-turns-your-thoughts-into-a-remote-control/


Bottom Line

Company is ambitious, open to new ideas. Seems like a lot of people have hacked it and turned it into something interesting. This includes music composition.


Neurosky

Mindwave

http://neurosky.com/biosensors/eeg-sensor/biosensors/


Features

1 channel (earlobe reference)

Very basic sensor

Dry electrode

NeuroSky eSense

A/D

amplification off head detection

noise filtering for 50/60Hz powerline interference

runs on single AAA battery (6-8 hours use time)

wireless pairing (Bluetooth?)


Hackability

Neurosky supports hacks on its website. It has a page dedicated to them. Furthermore, there are several tutorials available.

http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Modifying-Course-of-MindWave-RF-to-MindWave-BL/

Sparkfun has tutorial on it https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/hackers-in-residence---hacking-mindwave-mobile/all.pdf

https://hackaday.com/tag/neurosky/

https://www.hackster.io/neurosky/projects

https://hackaday.io/project/11146-train-your-brain-with-neurofeedback

http://www.frontiernerds.com/brain-hack

http://developer.neurosky.com/docs/doku.php?id=projects

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/hackers-in-residence---hacking-mindwave-mobile



Necomimi

https://store.necomimi.com/products/necomimi

Toy using neurosky’s sensor. Easily hackable, but the cost is nearly half that of the mind wave.



Hackability

http://www.instructables.com/id/Necomimi-bluetooth-EEG-data-hack/

https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=422997.0

https://www.hackster.io/Imetomi/use-the-force-or-your-brainwaves-9e839b



Bottom Line

Mindwave is very hackable. Seems to be the go to choice for people who want cheap EEG hacking options. Maybe the data is not as clear as you might want, but its the most basic option available. Furthermore, the manufacturers seem to embrace the idea of hacking.

Necomimi is probably even more rudimentary, output-wise. However, it is half the price and hackable. At only around 3500 rupees, its by far the cheapest option.


OpenBCI

http://openbci.com

There isn’t much to be said about this. Its clearly the most DIY option out there, and has lots of open source code that you can use, and has direct connections to arduino and other microcontrollers.

The readings are “research grade” according to the website, and several people recommend it in online forums.

An example of a project:

http://eeghacker.blogspot.com


OpenEEG

http://openeeg.sourceforge.net/doc/modeeg/modeeg.html


This is the DIY version. Basically its a bunch of schematics online to build your own EEG sensor. However, the cost of all the parts racks up quite quickly, and can exceed $200 depending on where you get it from.

Worth looking into as an option. However, it obviously demands significantly more time as you have to build and calibrate it, and its probably less useful than OpenBCI in the long run.


Extra Stuff

http://www.frontiernerds.com/brain-hack