The research project “BCI@home” started in March 2016. It is financially supported by the European Fund of Regional Development (EFRE) within the framework of the leading market competition for health care. During this three year project polyoptics GmbH will develop a demonstrator in cooperation with Prof. Volosyak , University lecturer at the “Hochschule Rhein-Waal (HSRW)” in Kleve.

This demonstrator will be controlled by a Brain-Computer-Interface-technology (BCI). Using the BCI technology, brain waves are directly transformed into control commands for a computer by means of electroencephalography (EEG). For this purpose, several different commands are offered visually, each of which is blinking with a different regular frequency. The blinking frequency generates an equivalent frequency in the visual cortex which is detected by the computer via EEG and which is then assigned to the corresponding command. During a previous project the detection rate of the computer could achieve levels close to 100%.

In order to make the BCI technology suitable for daily use, we - polyoptics GmbH - will develop a device which can put the commands into practice in an appropriate way. The objective is to create a demonstrator that can be easily integrated into the everyday life of a physically disabled person and which, therefore, offers new possibilities of interaction by increasing their well-being. The demonstrator will be tested on its suitability for the application in a seniors’ residence. Afterwards it will be further developed based on the knowledge acquired in this first phase.