OpenBCI opens up low-cost brain-wave-controlled experimentation to everyone

December 12, 2013

The OpenBCI board. (credit: OpenBCI)

New York EEG researchers/Parsons instructors Joel Murphy and Conor Russomanno just launched a Kickstarter campaign called OpenBCI, intended to give anyone low-cost computer access to their EEG (brain waves).

BCI stands for brain-computer interface. The idea with OpenBCI is to allow you to control (with your brain — via an eight-channel EEG interface, your computer, and your controller) devices such as lights, robots, optocopters, your exoskeleton, whatever — using an affordable Arduino board controller that can be easily programmed. Muscle (EMG) and heart-signal (ECG) pickup is also planned.

The Kickstarter funding will allow Murphy and Russomanno to build the open-source-platform devices to make this possible.

It will also allow some of you to be the first to receive an 8-channel OpenBCI EEG signal capture system (Bluetooth-enabled, Arduino-compatible, with an onboard SD card holder) — limited supply*.

See the video below and the OpenBCI Kickstarter campaign for more details. KurzweilAI will continue to report on this interesting project.

* I just pledged for the awesome OpenBCI board. — Editor