I/O: Smartphone Brain Scanner

This article describes a brain scanner that can be used with smartphones and tablets across different platforms. The brain scanner is shown below along with the application on the mobile devices. This scanner is a "low-cost wireless 14-channel Emotiv EEG neuroheadset." A scanning system like this allows the scanning to be minimally invasive and continuously capturing data. Little attention has been given to continuous brain imaging within the personal informatics realm because traditional imaging methods are heavy, complex, uncomfortable, and lack mobility. These traditional methods include MRIs and PET scans. This scanner provides a way to more deeply understand brain activity outside of laboratory environments and in everyday settings.


Technologies that monitor brain function are called Brain Machine Interfaces, and their use has been limited by cost, setup, and mobility. This brain scanner offers a consumer grade neuroheadset along with in-depth real-time analysis on a smartphone or tablet. The scanner can perform functions such as 3D brain activity visualization, logging, brain state decoding, and data acquisition. The system gives bio-feedback with a 3D model of active cortical EEG sources as seen above. Just like most wireless devices, the main issue limiting its use is power consumption. The scanner can run for 7.5 hours with local data analysis but only 3.5 hours with online data analysis.

The authors tested the effectiveness of this scanner through two experiments. The first experiment tested if the scanner could differentiate between a participant thinking about tapping an object with a finger from the right hand or left hand. The system had an accuracy of 64%. The second experiment tested if the scanner could determine if a participant was being shown pleasant or unpleasant images. For 6 out the 8 participants, the system performed better than random. The authors conclude that this system can consistently capture simple brain patterns despite a fewer number and less accurate placement of electrodes than traditional brain imaging methods. This system provides a great step forward for continuously capturing brain activity in normal settings outside of a laboratory.

Reference: "A Cross-Platform Smartphone Brain Scanner." Jakob Larsen, Michael Kai Petersen, Arkadiusz Stopczynski, Lars Kai Hansen, Carsten Stahlhut.
http://personalinformatics.org/docs/chi2012/larsen.pdf