Affective three-dimensional brain–computer interface created using a prism array-based display

Abstract

To avoid the vergence-accommodation mismatch and provide a strong sense of presence to users, we applied a prism array-based display when presenting three-dimensional (3-D) objects. Emotional pictures were used as visual stimuli to increase the signal-to-noise ratios of steady-state visually evoked potentials (SSVEPs) because involuntarily motivated selective attention by affective mechanisms can enhance SSVEP amplitudes, thus producing increased interaction efficiency. Ten male and nine female participants voluntarily participated in our experiments. Participants were asked to control objects under three viewing conditions: two-dimension (2-D), stereoscopic 3-D, and prism. The participants performed each condition in a counter-balanced order. One-way repeated measures analysis of variance showed significant increases in the positive predictive values in the prism condition compared to the 2-D and 3-D conditions. Participants’ subjective ratings of realness and engagement were also significantly greater in the prism condition than in the 2-D and 3-D conditions, while the ratings for visual fatigue were significantly reduced in the prism condition than in the 3-D condition. The proposed methods are expected to enhance the sense of reality in 3-D space without causing critical visual fatigue. In addition, people who are especially susceptible to stereoscopic 3-D may be able to use the affective brain–computer interface.