Phase-based SSVEPs for a real-time brain-computer interface

Abstract

In recent years, brain-computer interface (BCI) systems have emerged as a technology that can be used to develop a direct communication pathway between the human brain and the external environment. BCI systems can provide a promising solution for individuals with severe motor disabilities to enhance and/or restore their communication capabilities and motor functions. Among the various neurophysiological phenomena that can be used to drive BCI systems, steady state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) have gained increasing popularity because of the high information transfer rate (ITR) and high accuracy that these can provide. SSVEPs are oscillatory responses in the electroencephalography (EEG) that are detected over the occipital and parietal regions of the brain. A typical SSVEP-based BCI system consists of a set of uniquely coded visual stimuli that when a user attends to them, evoke a distinctive SSVEP response, allowing them to make a specific selection.