Performance Analysis With Different Types of Visual Stimuli in a BCI-Based Speller Under an RSVP Paradigm

• Published in: Frontiers in computational neuroscience Vol. 14; p. 587702
• Main Authors: Ron-Angevin, Ricardo, Medina-Juliá, M. Teresa, Fernández-Rodríguez, Álvaro, Velasco-Álvarez, Francisco, Andre, Jean-Marc, Lespinet-Najib, Veronique, Garcia, Liliana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Research Foundation 05.01.2021; Frontiers; Frontiers Media S.A
• Subjects: Accuracy; Brain; brain computer-interface (BCI); Cognitive science; Communication; Communications systems; Computer applications; Electroencephalography; electroencephalography (EEG); Engineering Sciences; famous faces; Implants; N170; Neuroscience; P300; Paradigms; rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP); User experience; Visual stimuli; electroencephalography (EEG); rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP); P300; N170; famous faces; neutral pictures; brain computer-interface (BCI)
• ISSN: 1662-5188; 1662-5188
• DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2020.587702

Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) systems enable an alternative communication channel for severely-motor disabled patients to interact with their environment using no muscular movements. In recent years, the importance of research into non-gaze dependent brain-computer interface paradigms has been increasing, in contrast to the most frequently studied BCI-based speller paradigm (i.e., row-column presentation, RCP). Several visual modifications that have already been validated under the RCP paradigm for communication purposes have not been validated under the most extended non-gaze dependent rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm. Thus, in the present study, three different sets of stimuli were assessed under RSVP, with the following communication features: white letters (WL), famous faces (FF), neutral pictures (NP). Eleven healthy subjects participated in this experiment, in which the subjects had to go through a calibration phase, an online phase and, finally, a subjective questionnaire completion phase. The results showed that the FF and NP stimuli promoted better performance in the calibration and online phases, being slightly better in the FF paradigm. Regarding the subjective questionnaires, again both FF and NP were preferred by the participants in contrast to the WL stimuli, but this time the NP stimuli scored slightly higher. These findings suggest that the use of FF and NP for RSVP-based spellers could be beneficial to increase information transfer rate in comparison to the most frequently used letter-based stimuli and could represent a promising communication system for individuals with altered ocular-motor function.