OpenEarable ExG: Open-Source Hardware for Ear-Based Biopotential Sensing Applications

TL;DR

OpenEarable ExG is an open-source hardware platform designed for ear-based biopotential sensing, capable of measuring signals like EEG, EOG, and EMG with up to 7 channels, filling a gap in accessible ear-centric biopotential measurement tools.

Contribution

It introduces the first open-source, configurable ear-based biopotential sensing platform with multi-channel capability, validated through initial experiments.

Findings

Successful detection of eye movements via EOG

Detection of alpha brain activity via EEG

Identification of jaw clenching via EMG

Abstract

While traditional earphones primarily offer private audio spaces, so-called "earables" emerged to offer a variety of sensing capabilities. Pioneering platforms like OpenEarable have introduced novel sensing platforms targeted at the ears, incorporating various sensors. The proximity of the ears to the eyes, brain, and facial muscles has also sparked investigation into sensing biopotentials. However, currently there is no platform available that is targeted at the ears to sense biopotentials. To address this gap, we introduce OpenEarable ExG - an open-source hardware platform designed to measure biopotentials in and around the ears. OpenEarable ExG can be freely configured and has up to 7 sensing channels. We initially validate OpenEarable ExG in a study with a left-right in-ear dual-electrode montage setup with 3 participants. Our results demonstrate the successful detection of smooth pursuit eye movements via Electrooculography (EOG), alpha brain activity via Electroencephalography (EEG), and jaw clenching via Electromyography (EMG). OpenEarable ExG is part of the OpenEarable initiative and is fully open-source under MIT license.