A two-class brain computer interface to freely navigate through virtual worlds / Ein Zwei-Klassen-Brain-Computer-Interface zur freien Navigation durch virtuelle Welten

Abstract

A brain computer interface that enables navigation through a virtual environment (VE) using four different navigation commands (turn right, turn left, move forward and move back) is presented. A graphical interface allows subjects to select a specific command. In this interface, the different navigation commands are surrounding a circle. A bar in the center of the circle is continuously rotating. The subject controls, by only two mental tasks, the bar extension to reach the chosen command. In this study, after an initial training based on three sessions, 8 out of 15 naive subjects were able to navigate through the VE discriminating between imagination of right-hand movements and relaxed state. All subjects (except one) improved their performance in each run and a mean error rate of 23.75% was obtained.