Brain-Computer Interface
Technology:
Moving Beyond Demonstrations
Welcome to the
information page for
the Second
International Brain-Computer Interface Workshop.
We hope that the
following descriptions will be helpful
Please contact us
with any suggestions or comments.
- Theresa and Jon
Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology is a potentially powerful new communication and control option for those with severe motor disabilities. The pace and volume of BCI research have grown very rapidly over the past decade. The success of this exciting work depends on close and productive interaction of scientists, engineers, and clinicians from many different disciplines and requires recognition and attention to a number of crucial issues. This meeting is designed to foster such interdisciplinary interactions and address these crucial issues, and thereby promote the development of BCI systems of practical value to people with disabilities. (Return to top)
In order to permit intensive and effective interactions and a substantive outcome, the number of participants will be limited to 80. These will include at least one person from each research lab, associated students and postdoctoral fellows, and experts from related fields. Everyone is asked to attend the entire meeting, from the opening reception on the evening of Wednesday, June12, through the final summary discussion at breakfast the morning of Sunday, June16. The workshop will be structured as follows:
1) Laboratory research reports. On Thursday, a representative of each BCI lab will present a brief summary (i.e., 10-12 min) of the lab’s current BCI research program. With time for a few questions after each speaker, these presentations will occupy both morning and afternoon sessions.
On subsequent days:
2) Four to six issue-oriented discussion sessions: each session will be planned and led by a panel of 5-7 individuals selected to provide the important perspectives on the issue.
3) Point/counterpoint discussions of important issues in the field and participation of authorities from related fields
4) Evenings will be devoted to posters and to demonstrations of BCI systems
5) A keynote address delivered by Fernando Lopes da Silva
We are very interested in your thoughts on both format and content. We would like to focus on a series of key topics crucial to BCI research and development. A provisional list includes:
1) The advantages and disadvantages of different brain signals and signal analysis methods.
2) Alternative methods for translating these signals into device commands.
3) Identification of applications of most value to users and facilitation of user training.
4) Standards for designing studies and for assessing and comparing their results.
We anticipate changing and/or expanding this list in response to your comments and suggestions.
A panel will guide discussion of each topic. Each panel could plan its presentation by e-mail before the meeting and meet at least briefly at the meeting. To permit each attendee to participate in a panel and to ensure comprehensive coverage of each topic, we are considering having each topic covered by two independent panels in two different one-hour sessions. One or more of the panel members might make a brief opening presentation on the topic, followed by general discussion, but it would be largely up to each panel to organize its session. The two panels assigned to each topic would present either in sequence on separate days or back-to-back.
We are also considering selecting specific crucial and controversial questions and assigning each to a pair of volunteer discussants who would debate their respective positions in 10-min presentations followed by a general discussion. (Return to top.)
The Rensselaerville Institute (http://www.tricampus.org \ )
The meeting will take place at the Conference Center of the Rensselaerville Institute which is about 25 miles southwest of Albany in the Helderberg Mountains. Its facilities include a large auditorium with all the necessary audiovisual equipment, a lecture hall, and smaller conference rooms for discussion groups. The restaurant on campus provides meals and refreshments. Overnight lodging is provided on campus. Transportation is available to and from the Albany-Schenectady Airport and the Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak Station. The Center’s secluded and scenic location fosters intensive and productive interactions among meeting participants in a casual environment. ( DRIVING DIRECTIONS ) (Return to top.)
Please plan to arrive at the Conference Center Wednesday, June 12, after 3 pm. There will be a reception that evening. Laboratory presentations will begin Thursday morning at 8:30 am and continue throughout the day. It is important that participants arrive by Wednesday evening and stay through Sunday morning. We hope that you honor this request. (Return to top.)
If you are scheduled to give a talk on Thursday, June 13, please refer to the presentation formatting instructions below. In order to allow each lab to present, EACH TALK WILL BE STRICTLY LIMITED TO A MAXIMUM OF 8 MINUTES AND 5 SLIDES. IT SHOULD BE A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE LAB’S INTERESTS AND ACTIVITIES. WE URGE EACH SPEAKER TO FOCUS ON THREE POINTS: (1) THE LAB’S MAIN AREA OF INTEREST; (2) ITS RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS; (3) ITS PLANS FOR THE FUTURE.
In order to minimize delays between talks, please send us your PowerPoint file before the meeting or give it to us at registration on Wednesday. (PLEASE REMEMBER: NO MORE THAN 8 MINUTES AND 5 SLIDES!!) (Return to top.)
Thursday will be a very busy day. In order to minimize delays between presentations, we would like your presentation media by registration on Wednesday, June 12th. To help us anticipate, if you haven’t already done so please indicate your presentation format*:
[ ] Overhead transparency
[ ] 35mm "blue" slides
[ ] Microsoft PowerPoint
[ ] My presentation will include audio and/or video
[ ] I will use my laptop for my presentation
The preferred presentation format is Microsoft PowerPoint. Speakers using computer projection are urged to bring their media on a Windows-readable 100 MB ZIP disk or CD-ROM. Speakers must bring a copy of all external files contained within their PowerPoint presentations, such as sound or movie files (wav, avi, mpeg, etc.). Speakers using slides are urged not to bring slides thicker than 1/8", the maximum thickness that can be accepted by standard trays and projectors.
* Please contact us if your presentation format is not listed.
The exhibition space for posters is almost entirely limited to ceiling-to-floor panels that are 48 inches wide. Contact us with questions. (vaughan@wadsworth.org)
Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows wishing to attend must either work in the field themselves or be recommended by an advisor or mentor who works in the field. Students are strongly encouraged to submit posters and will be included in panel presentations to the greatest extent possible. (Return to top.)
If you have accepted an invitation to the BCI Workshop, your reservation either on or off-campus has been made. Every effort is being made to house everyone at the Institute
►Space is limited. Requests for single rooms (at the attendees’ expense) will be honored only if space allows.
►If you have special housing or dietary requests, please contact Theresa Vaughan ( vaughan@wadsworth.org ; 518-486-4920) as soon as possible. (Return to top.)
IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering will devote an issue to the workshop. The issue will begin with an article summarizing the meeting and providing an up-to-date review of BCI research and development. This summary article will be followed by papers from each laboratory. We ask that these papers be turned in at the meeting. Revisions will be possible after the meeting. All papers will undergo peer review prior to their final acceptance for publication. Manuscripts should be in the form of the IEEE Transactions Short Communication (i.e., up to 2000 words or no more then five Transaction pages including figures.) Please follow the Instructions to Authors found on the web at http://www.ieee.org/organizations/pubs/transactions/information.htm
If you have other questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call or write us.
Registration (begins 3:00 P.M)
Informal Dinner Reception (cocktails at 5:30 PM)
Panel Get-Togethers (after dinner))
Lab Talks (Morning and Afternoon)
Keynote (Evening)
Panel Get-Togethers (after keynote)
I: Signals (Two Panels on
Friday Morning)
These two panels will each address the relative advantages and disadvantages for BCI use of different brain signals and different signal recording technologies.
II: Methods (Friday Afternoon)
This panel will consider alternative methods for measuring the chosen brain signals and for translating these measurements into communication and control commands.
III: Applications (Two Panels
on Saturday Morning)
This panel will focus on identification of those applications of most practical value to users, on facilitation of user training, and on long-term support of applications.
IV: Standards (Saturday
Afternoon)
This panel will consider development and adoption of appropriate standards for designing BCI studies and for assessing and comparing their results, both in the laboratory and in actual applications.
I Unit Potentials versus Field Potentials in BCI Research and Development (Friday Morning)
Electrophysiological recording can focus on the unit potentials produced by the firing of individual neurons or on the field potentials produced by large populations of neurons and synapses. Both methods have a long history in neuroscience research. The discussants will debate the relative advantages and disadvantages of these two approaches for the laboratory development and clinical application of BCI technology.
Moderator: Simon Levine
Unit Potentials: John Donaghue
Field Potentials: Jon Wolpaw
II. Linear versus Non-linear Methods in BCI Research (Friday Afternoon)
Linear methods, such as multiple regression, have traditionally dominated quantitative approaches in science and engineering. Recently, non-linear methods, such as neural networks, have become prominent. The discussants will debate the relative advantages and disadvantages of these two classes of methods in the design, evaluation, and application of BCI technology.
Moderator: Gary Birch
Linear: Klaus Mueller
Non-linear: Charles Anderson
III. Behavioral versus Cognitive Approaches to BCI
Research (Saturday Morning)
For over 100 years, two opposing approaches have dominated the study of mind and behavior: behaviorism, which analyses behavior without reference to thoughts, emotions, and other mental events; and cognitivism, which incorporates mental events into its analyses of behavior. BCI research presents a new class of mind/behavior phenomena and is thus a new arena for the continuing clash of behavioral and cognitive viewpoints. The discussants will debate the relative advantages and disadvantages of these two approaches for the understanding of BCI phenomena and for the design, evaluation, and use of BCI technology.
Moderator: Alan Gevins
Behavioral Approach: Neils Birbaumer
Cognitive Approach: Manny Donchin
IV. Standard BCI Taxonomy: More or Less (Saturday
Afternoon)
BCI researchers use terms for BCI system components, their inputs and outputs, and their functions and interactions. The discussants will debate the advantages and disadvantages of a detailed standard BCI taxonomy in BCI development, evaluation, and application.
Moderator: Bruce Dobkin
More: Steve Mason
Less: Dennis McFarland
More later
Sunday
Plenary session (Sunday Morning)
National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research, NIH
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, NIH
The Office of Rare Diseases, NIH
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH
The Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association
The Department of Defense Advanced Research Project Agency
The Whitaker Foundation
The Wadsworth Center