Development of a Game with a Purpose for Acquisition of Brain-Computer Interface Data

TL;DR

This paper explores using a game with a purpose (GWAP) to collect large-scale, longitudinal brain-computer interface data by maintaining participant engagement and validating neural signals similar to traditional tasks.

Contribution

It demonstrates the feasibility of employing GWAPs for BCI data collection, addressing challenges of data volume and participant engagement in BCI research.

Findings

BCI-relevant tasks within the game elicit expected neural signals

Pilot tests show comparable neural activity to traditional BCI tasks

GWAPs can sustain participant interest over time for data collection

Abstract

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have the potential to significantly change the ways in which humans interact with technology, the environment, and even each other. Unfortunately, BCI technologies are seldom robust enough for use in real-world applications, in part due to the large amount of data that must be collected, processed, and classified in order to develop models of task-related neural activity that account for two of the most important and least-understood drivers of BCI illiteracy: individual differences in neural signals and intra-individual differences across interdependent, time-varying neural states. This paper describes the feasibility of using a game with a purpose (GWAP) as a viable instrument for collecting data from BCI-relevant research tasks. By leveraging game-related reward processes to maintain participant interest and engagement, this approach will enable large amounts of BCI data to be acquired, both across many individuals and longitudinally from specific individuals as neural states vary naturally over time. Pilot and technical testing results are presented here to demonstrate that the BCI-relevant tasks embedded within the research game elicit neural signals similar to those that would be expected from more traditional BCI tasks. These preliminary data provide support and validation of the use of GWAPs as promising tools to enable long-term collection of BCI-relevant data in an engaging environment.