BCI Promises in Emotional Involvement in Music and Games

Abstract

The reliability of commercial non-invasive BCI (brain computer Interface) devices and the lower cost of these EEG-based systems, as well as the equipment's portability, determined the increasing interest in their application in different research fields. The latter feature makes BCI devices particularly suited for entertainment applications, especially given the possibility to detect the mental state of the users. The relationship between emotions and entertainment is obvious, as is the influence of music in human emotional states. While BCI devices represent a challenge in gaming motion control, they have been successfully applied in music production [Dan et al. 2009] and composition [Hamadicharef et al. 2010]. In our previous work [Conscious and unconscious music from the brain in press] we focused on conscious production of music notes with the aim of developing a prototype for applications in entertainment. In this work we trace the state-of-the art of our research and present our opinion on possible applications of the preliminary results.