Brain-Computer Interfaces - Applying our Minds to Human-Computer Interaction

Recent advances in cognitive neuroscience and brain imaging technologies provide us with the unprecedented ability to interface directly with activity in the human brain. Beyond traditional neuroscience work, researchers have begun to explore brain imaging as a novel input mechanism. This work has largely been targeted at allowing users to bypass the need for motor movement and to directly control computers by explicitly manipulating their brain signals. In our work, we use brain imaging to passively sense and model the user’s state as they perform their tasks. In this workshop, we will discuss how we are using brain imaging to explore human cognition in the real world, to evaluate interface design, and to build interfaces that adapt based on user state. We will ground our discussions in user studies we have conducted to perform task classification while users perform various tasks. We will also provide lessons learned as well as a general methodology so that other HCI researchers can utilize these technologies in their work.