Self-Paced Brain-Computer Interaction with Virtual Worlds: A Quantitative and Qualitative Study “Out of the Lab”

International audienceThis paper describes the results of an evaluation of a self-paced BCI application conducted with 21 naive subjects. We studied both performances and preferences of subjects placed voluntarily in a challenging situation: first-time session, no human learning, no machine learning of the mental state to be detected, “out of the lab”, use of a single EEG channel. The application consisted of an entertaining interaction with a virtual world inspired by the famous “Star Wars” movie. Subjects were asked to control the take-off and height of a virtual spaceship by using their motor-related brain activity. Results showed that, without training, roughly half of the subjects were able to control the application by using real foot movements and a quarter were able to control it by using imagined foot movements. Taken together, the results of subjective questionnaires stressed the importance of mental strategies and the need to provide subjects with a continuous and complete visual feedback, even when the non-control state is detected. In addition, the whole application appeared as enjoyable and motivating for the subjects