Brain computer interface (BCI) – UX-design for visual and non-visual interaction by mental commands in the context of technical possibilities

Abstract

How do we interact with the digital world in the future by only using our thoughts to interact? To interact with the digital world, we use gestures (most common: swipe gestures), voice, facial expressions and mental commands. The latter has become more important by recent press releases about scientific achievements, for example, from Neuralink [1] using invasive technology to control a computer game by thoughts only [2]. Another study says an application can display text on a screen by just thinking about a word [3]. Currently, BCIs are mainly developed for neurotechnology and healthcare. However, it is a question of time when these services will be available for commercial products for everyday life. (Until then, manufacturers have to minimize health risks and face privacy and safety regulations.) The thesis is that in the future, you will be able to interact with your digital devices just by using your thoughts and you’ll do much faster. This makes sense in many situations where you f. e. do not have a free hand (manufacturing, sports) or cannot speak (underwater). But for such services, you cannot rely on conventional visual design guidelines or interaction patterns, frameworks or libraries. Navigation interacting with a digital service by mental command has a lot of advantages, the human brain comes naturally with some specific features that force us to find a radically new way to interact with digital interfaces. The following study introduces you first into working conditions with mental commands, comparing invasive and non-invasive technologies, and later on comparing several possibilities of interaction patterns for a BCI of everyday usage. [1] Neuralink is a US neurotechnology company founded in July 2016 by Elon Musk and eight other persons. Neuralink’s goal is to develop a device for communication between human brain and computers, a so-called brain-computer-interface(BCI). [2] The Guardian, Fr. 9th April 2021 “Elon Musk startup shows monkey with brain chip implants playing video game”. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/apr/09/elon-musk- neuralink-monkey-video-game . [3] Scientific American, 15th July 2021, Neuroscience, author Emily Willingham: “New Brain Implant Transmits Full Words from Neural Signals”.