Today I visited Shah again to find out how he had got on using the Emotiv Headset, and the results were interesting. Shah was not using it very much now - because he had regained some movement in his finger - and this means that he will now have access to more traditional technology, such as a switch or maybe a computer mouse - very good news!
The inevitable question is - did the Emotiv headset help Shah get his finger movement back? Shah is skeptical that it had any impact. However general feedback from some of those involved was that there was a possibility that he may have recovered some movement because of the increased brain activity from using the headset.
This was not a clinical trial - it was an experiment to see whether such a device would help - so we will never know the true impact of it, or whether his finger movement would have recovered at the same rate anyway. But as his family told me, the headset demonstrated that it *was* possible for him to get some degree of personal control back, and that in itself was encouraging.
And what about the headset? Would Shah recommend trying it to others in a similar position? Yes! Has he given up using it now he has another option? Nah - he's a techy at heart and likes to play with it - just like the rest of us!!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Emotiv Headset and Locked In Syndrome
In March, a salesman working for IBM had a stroke, which left him with complete paralysis, unable to use his muscles, and without the ability to speak. His brain however is working fine - a condition called Locked-In Syndrome. His means of communicating is by his eyes - looking up for yes, and down for no. He has to wait for someone to ask him if he'd like to speak before being able to do so. Then, using a letter chart, that someone must point at letters one by one, until a confirmation is received. This is the first letter of the sentence. The process must be repeated for every other letter in the sentence, until the full sentence is spelt out.
The salesman in question is called Shah, and Sarah (my wife) is his Occupational Therapist (OT), who saw the mind-reading headset from Emotiv that I was using in IBM and thought about the potential this could have for Shah. The headset was designed for the gaming industry, and measures facial expressions, excitement/boredom levels and can be trained to listen for particular thoughts, which can perform an action on the computer.
Sarah asked me to demonstrate it to the consultant, speech therapist, psychologist and hospital ward manager - who agreed it may have some potential, and who took it to the ethics committee. Shah was informed about the headset and what it can do - but that we weren't aware of any person with the symptom who had tried it before. Shah, being a bit of a techy, was up for pioneering it - so I met him last week for his first go.
Just like the many other people I have demonstrated the headset with, Shah was instantly able to train the system so that one action - the "push" action - would push the floating "Emotiv cube" into the distance. As we trained, the ability to push (and stop pushing) at will, improved.
Adding a second action adds a complication. Now the unit has to distinguish not just whether you think or don't think, but which thought you are having - much harder! And like everyone, it will take a bit of time to practise getting sufficiently good at this to control. However Shah is up for the challenge, and has a fantastically supportive family who are willing to help him train.
Last week, after one week of use, Shah had managed to train the headset very well - though when tired the Emotiv skill can go down as well as up. Working with the speech therapist, we have connected the output of the headset to the input of "The Grid 2" - a piece of software by Sensory Software which allows a user, normally via eye tracking, keyboard, mouse or switches, to control their environment, write emails and surf the internet. We have initially set up 3 different menu items, and thinking "push" starts highlighted these options in turn at 10 second intervals. Thinking push again, will select one of the options. Sounds easy perhaps - but if I tell you to *not* think of a rabbit - you can't help but think of a rabbit! It's hard to think about when to start and stop thinking, and then change to think about the thought you are supposed to be thinking about! I think this will take some practice to achieve, but once achieved could be widened to many more options, with very little extra practice.
Often people ask about using the headset for people with different conditions, and in different places. What with Shah being a fellow IBMer who likes gadgets, and his OT being my wife, and with the particular medical condition he had, conditions were ideal to try out the headset. It will take time for us all to get it right - but for now it is looking good. I will try to keep you updated!
The salesman in question is called Shah, and Sarah (my wife) is his Occupational Therapist (OT), who saw the mind-reading headset from Emotiv that I was using in IBM and thought about the potential this could have for Shah. The headset was designed for the gaming industry, and measures facial expressions, excitement/boredom levels and can be trained to listen for particular thoughts, which can perform an action on the computer.
Sarah asked me to demonstrate it to the consultant, speech therapist, psychologist and hospital ward manager - who agreed it may have some potential, and who took it to the ethics committee. Shah was informed about the headset and what it can do - but that we weren't aware of any person with the symptom who had tried it before. Shah, being a bit of a techy, was up for pioneering it - so I met him last week for his first go.
Just like the many other people I have demonstrated the headset with, Shah was instantly able to train the system so that one action - the "push" action - would push the floating "Emotiv cube" into the distance. As we trained, the ability to push (and stop pushing) at will, improved.
Adding a second action adds a complication. Now the unit has to distinguish not just whether you think or don't think, but which thought you are having - much harder! And like everyone, it will take a bit of time to practise getting sufficiently good at this to control. However Shah is up for the challenge, and has a fantastically supportive family who are willing to help him train.
Last week, after one week of use, Shah had managed to train the headset very well - though when tired the Emotiv skill can go down as well as up. Working with the speech therapist, we have connected the output of the headset to the input of "The Grid 2" - a piece of software by Sensory Software which allows a user, normally via eye tracking, keyboard, mouse or switches, to control their environment, write emails and surf the internet. We have initially set up 3 different menu items, and thinking "push" starts highlighted these options in turn at 10 second intervals. Thinking push again, will select one of the options. Sounds easy perhaps - but if I tell you to *not* think of a rabbit - you can't help but think of a rabbit! It's hard to think about when to start and stop thinking, and then change to think about the thought you are supposed to be thinking about! I think this will take some practice to achieve, but once achieved could be widened to many more options, with very little extra practice.
Often people ask about using the headset for people with different conditions, and in different places. What with Shah being a fellow IBMer who likes gadgets, and his OT being my wife, and with the particular medical condition he had, conditions were ideal to try out the headset. It will take time for us all to get it right - but for now it is looking good. I will try to keep you updated!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wearable computing devices
Time to do a bit of blogging again. I've recently been asked about various wearable computing devices... here's a starter list, but I'd be interested in any other links you may have.
AR Glasses: These plug into a phone and can overlay data like directions / emails etc whilst travelling.
Gesture Gloves: Very accurate hand movement recognition.
Gesture Watch: Accelerometer, temperature, pressure sensors - also can act as wireless hub for other sensors.
Sixth Sense (wearable video/projector): Gesture recognition, ability to detect objects and augment real objects with data by projecting back on to them. Very cool.
Emotiv Headset: Brain reading device built for gamers which reads facial expression, excitement/engagement, trained actions and head movement.
NeuroSky Mindset: Brain reading device which measures excitement/engagement. Chip has the ability to add other sensors.
Mobile Phone Jewellery: Article from 10 years ago about IBM going into jewellery that can be used as a mobile phone.
We have used some of these sensors in the ETS Lab... more in a follow up post!
AR Glasses: These plug into a phone and can overlay data like directions / emails etc whilst travelling.
Gesture Gloves: Very accurate hand movement recognition.
Gesture Watch: Accelerometer, temperature, pressure sensors - also can act as wireless hub for other sensors.
Sixth Sense (wearable video/projector): Gesture recognition, ability to detect objects and augment real objects with data by projecting back on to them. Very cool.
Emotiv Headset: Brain reading device built for gamers which reads facial expression, excitement/engagement, trained actions and head movement.
NeuroSky Mindset: Brain reading device which measures excitement/engagement. Chip has the ability to add other sensors.
Mobile Phone Jewellery: Article from 10 years ago about IBM going into jewellery that can be used as a mobile phone.
We have used some of these sensors in the ETS Lab... more in a follow up post!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)