Two-step Input Spatial Auditory BCI for Japanese Kana Characters

TL;DR

This paper introduces a two-step spatial auditory BCI system for Japanese kana characters, utilizing P300 responses for classification, demonstrating promising results for paralyzed users in a pilot study.

Contribution

It develops a novel two-step auditory BCI spelling method tailored for Japanese kana, optimizing stimulus design and demonstrating its feasibility through pilot experiments.

Findings

Effective classification of P300 responses in the two-step BCI

Successful implementation of a kana character speller for paralyzed users

Positive pilot study results confirming system usability

Abstract

We present an auditory stimulus optimization and a pilot study of a two-step input speller application combined with a spatial auditory brain-computer interface (saBCI) for paralyzed users. The application has been developed for 45, out of 48 defining the full set, Japanese kana characters in a two-step input procedure setting for an easy-to-use BCI-speller interface. The user first selects the representative letter of a subset, defining the second step. In the second step, the final choice is made. At each interfacing step, the choices are classified based on the P300 event related potential (ERP) responses captured in the EEG, as in the classic oddball paradigm. The BCI online experiment and EEG responses classification results of the pilot study confirm the effectiveness of the proposed spelling method.