Non-invasive Brain to Brain interface

HormonadsHormonads
in Prosthetics, wearables, and haptics

My girlfriend and I have been working on a project to create a non-invasive B2B interface that allows us to communicate. I've worked out the EEG component, but the stimulator component seems a bit more difficult as there aren't very many open source high channel count TENS and even less tDCS units on the market. Does anybody else have resources on this?

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  • kuroro86kuroro86

    Hi, this looks a really interesting project. But I'm confused by the post could you write a bit more details ?
    What EEG components are you using ? how many sensors ? what position on the head ?
    What software are you using to read the EEG ? Or not having a open source version is part of problem?

    there are same tDCS units that could be modified or specifically made for this process.

    But how did you work out how to stimulate the brain to make sure you transmit the information. And make sure you are transmitting the correct information?

  • HormonadsHormonads

    The EEG unit we are planning on using is the FreeEEG32. It has 32 channels (which translates to electrodes in this case) and is arduino pin compatible- which means you can get readings on more or less the entire brain. The readings will be bussed to a PocketBeagle or other SBC and then sent wirelessly to the other node.

  • HormonadsHormonads

    The idea is that the other person would learn to interpret the electrical impulses on the back of their neck

  • kuroro86kuroro86

    ok , but than what you need the tDCS for ? If you intend to stimulate the neck you are looking for a Galvanic stimulator for the skin.
    If you are looking for the person to learn to recognize pattern from the other brain, you can send the information to a vibration motor ( the one y find in videogame controllers on the body. There was a similar project I saw on the BBC.

  • CassoxCassox
    I went to a talk discussing BCI, and the dude went into detail regarding the utility of signal from different sources. His conclusion was that EEg based BCI isnt going to be terribly useful as it's basically the average of a rather large area by the time you make it through skull. I'm not trying to dissaude you at all. Have you made any progress?
    They have those games where you can focus and relax and whatnot. I'm sure you could probably at least send simple messages.. perhaps like morse code?

    I don't think the neurostimulation is a good output idea though honestly. If you use a safe voltage, you wont be aware of the signal. It's going to be around 20 mA or so.. not something you'll conciously be aware of. Also, if you're going to stimulate the brain, you'll need to make the entirety of the device battery operated. As a general rule, if it's going to the wall, it doesn't get wired to the brain. Sounds funny but its one of those rules which were learnt the hard way. So much simpler to make something vibrate or whatnot.

    Have you read about prof. Warwicks computer mediated telepathy project? The effects of the device seem to be along the lines of what you want to do, minus the BCI elements.
  • epr_stargazerepr_stargazer
    Sorry I didn't do this earlier, I don't get on this forum much, but wanted to point out that something like this has been done before.
    The original article:
    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267809989_A_Direct_Brain-to-Brain_Interface_in_Humans
    Something more recent:
    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41895-7)#ref-CR4
    Tl;Dr - the researchers use EEG signals from the sender's brain to drive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the recipient's brain.

    I looked into the first paper extensively when it first came out, and from what I recall the signal wasn't very sophisticated (a pretty basic on/off) but the principle is sounds.

    Also, if you aren't looking to build a TMS, I strongly recommend using vibrating motors, they are (by comparison) dirt cheap, have some dynamic range (i.e. variable signal strength), and can be controlled relatively easily using a microcontroller:
    https://www.adafruit.com/product/1201
    https://www.sparkfun.com/products/8449
    From the way you describe your set-up I think they would work well.

    I hope this helps.
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