A Comparison of a Brain-Computer Interface and an Eye Tracker: Is There a More Appropriate Technology for Controlling a Virtual Keyboard in an ALS Patient?

Abstract

Abstract. The ability of people affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), muscular dystrophy or spinal cord injuries to physically interact with the environment, is usually reduced. In some cases, these patients suffer from a syndrome known as locked-in syndrome (LIS), defined by the patient's inability to make any movement but blinks and eye movements. Tech communication systems available for people in LIS are very limited, being those based on eye-tracking and brain-computer interface (BCI) the most useful for these patients. A comparative study between both technologies in an ALS patient is carried out: an eye tracker and a visual P300-based BCI. The purpose of the study presented in this paper is to show that the choice of the technology could depend on user´s preference. The evaluation of performance, workload and other subjective measures will allow us to determine the usability of the systems. The obtained results suggest that, even if for this patient the BCI technology is more appropriate, the technology should be always tested and adapted for each user.

Phase-Spatial Beamforming Renders a Visual Brain Computer Interface Capable of Exploiting EEG Electrode Phase Shifts in Motion-Onset Target Responses

“…They can benefit from BCI solutions that could perform comparably well, or even better than other forms of assistive technology such as eye tracking [3]- [5]. For visual BCI candidates it has been reported [3], [4], [13] that user-comfort is a concern, for which the mVEP paradigm may provide a workable solution.…”

A novel approach for communicating with patients suffering from completely locked-in-syndrome (CLIS) via thoughts: Brain computer interface system using EEG signals and artificial intelligence

“…EEG contributes in both medical diagnosis and biomedical engineering research field in many ways [10] and therefore, greatly supports BCI advancements. People with ALS can communicate through limited number of technological arrangements, among them eye activity-based (for example, eye gaze), and cognitive activity-based (for example, P300 BCI) systems are commonly used [11]. From a comparison study between those two systems for ALS patient, [11] found that BCI is most controllable and comfortable system.…”

“…People with ALS can communicate through limited number of technological arrangements, among them eye activity-based (for example, eye gaze), and cognitive activity-based (for example, P300 BCI) systems are commonly used [11]. From a comparison study between those two systems for ALS patient, [11] found that BCI is most controllable and comfortable system. Some patients feel eye-tracking is a stressful system due to frequent eye movements, prolonged eye focus to a particular direction and wearing head mounted eye tracking interface.…”

Controlling a Mouse Pointer with a Single-Channel EEG Sensor

“…It is also worth noting that, in the end, the opinion of users is the key to accepting a specific technology. This is because other non-technical aspects, such as fatigue, price, frustration, training time, environment, and so on, are also taken into account [ 35 ]. For example, the authors of [ 36 ] demonstrated that a person with locked-in syndrome (LIS) was able to gain control over an EOG, an eye tracker, and an auditory BCI, but the user preferred to keep employing their low-tech communication method, using residual eye movements, due to their proficiency and that of their caregiver.…”