Getting started with The EMOTIV EPOC BCI headset. - utwente-interaction-lab/interaction-lab GitHub Wiki

The EMOTIV EPOC+ is a BCI (brain-computer interface) headset that records electroencephalogram (EEG) and transmits the signals to your laptop or computer. The headset is a non-invasive form of BCI that has been used in many applications including:

  • Being used as an input device (in the place of a mouse or keyboard)
  • Controlling digital media

The manufactures hand book is a source of information that covers set up, a description of the parts and troubleshooting about the physical process is available via this source.

General tips for use

  • If your user has longer hair it is beneficial to have them tie up their hair in a loose half-bun on the top of the head.
  • If possible, make sure the chair that the user is sitting in is comfortable to limit movement and interface.
  • The program takes some time to adapt to the user’s brain architecture so leave time for the setup and calibrations for each user.
  • Having some towels to dry off your hands and the sensors after use is useful.
  • Having a small bowl or the like is useful to allow you to saturate the felt pads easily.
  • Leave time before your experiment to charge the device (the battery will most likely be empty when you first pick up the headset).

In the box:

In the box, you will find:

  • A USB adapter
  • A bag of felts
  • A USB cable for charging
  • Saline solution
  • The headset
  • A blue-tooth adapter for your laptop or computer

For repacking, place the bottle in first and then the headset

The EMOTIV Launcher

The EMOTIV launcher is a tool that allows you to connect the device to your laptop, use virtual devices and lets you launch applications like EMOTIV BCI.

EMOTIV BCI (app)

Within the launcher you will have access to the emotive BCI application, here is where you will be able to use the configuration set up and view some of the data. This data is at a rate of 1Hz, this may be slow for some applications, therefor some additional options are available below. In the app there is the performance metric viewer, this measures several key signals that the BCI is gathering from the brain.

Performance Metrics include 6 metrics from the website:

  • Focus is a measure of fixed attention to one specific task. Focus measures the depth of attention as well as the frequency that attention switches between tasks. A high level of task switching is an indication of poor focus and distraction.
  • Engagement is experienced as alertness and the conscious direction of attention towards task-relevant stimuli. It measures the level of immersion in the moment and is a mixture of attention and concentration and contrasts with boredom. Engagement is characterized by increased physiological arousal and beta waves along with attenuated alpha waves. The greater the attention, focus and workload, the greater the output score reported by the detection.
  • Interest is the degree of attraction or aversion to the current stimuli, environment or activity and is commonly referred to as Valence. Low-interest scores indicate a strong aversion to the task, high interest indicates a strong affinity with the task while mid-range scores indicate you neither like nor dislike the activity. *Excitement is an awareness or feeling of physiological arousal with a positive value. It is characterized by activation in the sympathetic nervous system which results in a range of physiological responses including pupil dilation, eye-widening, sweat gland stimulation, heart rate and muscle tension increases, blood diversion, and digestive inhibition. In general, the greater the increase in physiological arousal the greater the output score for the detection. The Excitement detection is tuned to provide output scores that reflect short-term changes in excitement overtime periods as short as several seconds.
  • Stress is a measure of comfort with the current challenge. High stress can result from an inability to complete a difficult task, feeling overwhelmed and fearing negative consequences for failing to satisfy the task requirements. Generally, a low to moderate level of stress can improve productivity, whereas a higher level tends to be destructive and can have long-term consequences for health and wellbeing.
  • Relaxation is a measure of an ability to switch off and recover from intense concentration. Trained meditators can score extremely high relaxation scores.

Examples