Teams

Prosthetics Team

NXT Prosthetics Team’s focus is to research and explore the intersection of neuroscience, engineering, and programming to develop prosthetic devices that can restore or enhance the functionality of limbs. The tools we primarily use are Fusion360 and Onshape for the computer-aided design of the prosthetics parts, Flashforge and Prusa 3D printers, and Arduino, which are coupled with electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) for the controls of the prosthetics.

The plan for the Prosthetics Team this upcoming semester is to split people into groups by experience level (newcomers, returning members). The newcomers will either download and load CAD designs to print or design their own CAD designs involving movement, depending on their experience and comfortability with CAD designs. The returning members will continue to work on their previous designs through printing and coding. Programming/Coding workshops will be held during the semester to assist anyone in their projects. This upcoming semester aims to give the newcomers experience with 3D printing and electrical circuit controls (?) while also allowing the returning members to work towards completing their designs from the previous year.

Games Team

The NeuroTechnology Games Team is a group dedicated to the implementation of neurotechnology in games in conjuction with game design to allow for more fun, immersive, and interesting experiences. We mainly consist of two sections of work, one side working on the neurotech software and the other side working on the games, which is done in the Unity game engine.

In the past, we have fully built a racing game that implements electromyography which allows for the player to turn a car on a screen left and right by flexing their right and left arms respectively. Which was showcased at the Strong Museum of Play.

Currently, we are working on finishing up the process of fully integrating the Neurotech software into Unity and once that is done we plan to build more games using electromyography and do some research on electroencephalography so we can start work on EEG games. We plan to use all of these games as stepping stones to more complex ideas and concepts.

Dream Project

The Dream team is looking to capture and visualize dreams. Right now, we are particularly interested in studying emotions recognition during dreams using electroencephalography (EEG) because dreams are known to be emotion-heavy experiences. By analyzing these electrical signals, we can gain insights into the emotional states experienced during dreams. This information can help us better understand the relationship between emotions and dream content.

In addition to emotional recognition, we are also exploring the use of EEG for facial recognition in dreams. We aim to develop a method that can identify recurring faces that appear in your dreams. This could provide valuable insights into the role of familiar individuals or archetypes in dream narratives. EEG has shown promise in the field of facial recognition, and by extending its application to the dream context, we hope to uncover unique patterns and characteristics associated with dream characters.

NDML Project

The Neurophysiological Database for Machine Learning (or NDML for short) research team is working to make advancements in neurotech easier by constructing a comprehensive database of EEG scans over a consistent set of subjects, doing a varied set of tasks involving activity in many areas of the brain. This database will improve upon currently available EEG databases through its variety of tests, usage of longer recording windows, and consistent use of the same research subjects across multiple experiments. We hope to do a proof-of-concept run with a small pool of research subjects, and then expand to working with more subjects and higher-quality hardware.

We’re also working to make advancements in AI/ML neurologic technologies easier by ensuring that said database is optimized for AI/ML with clear data labeling, organization, and preprocessed versions, as well as creating and training some AI models ourselves. We’re currently working with Python as our coding language, with PyTorch (and/or PyTorch Lightning) as the main AI library. Convolutional and recurrent neural networks are being evaluated for usage in our tasks.

Thought Keyboard Project (on hold for fall semester)

The Neurotechnology Exploration Thought Keyboard project will focus on the development of a hands-free virtual keyboard and mouse. This will be the start of a process towards making simple interfaces that bring the kind of accessibility and ease of use that only Brain Computer Interfaces can offer to all sorts of devices.

This research project has gone through many iterations, and little projects like the Wizard101 interface. Eventually it was decided that the interface shouldn't be confined to anything and simply act as a digital alternative to its physical counterpart. After going through some redesigns, we decided to make a virtual overlay that would appear over any ongoing activity on the device to type, select or any other inputs. Specifically, this overlay will consist of a mouse that will appear first, intended to select, or prompt for the radial keyboard (circular, expanding).

Right now, Kivy is being used to develop an app that can be used on PC and Phones for that intended purpose. We're focused on the software development stage of the UI and making it future proof for any additions in case its scope were to grow. Soon, we'll move onto implementing biosensing technology and SSVEP, to realize the other half of this project, in allowing this interface to receive input from the brain. The plan is to have this overlay follow the directional and locational goals of any subject. From here, this flexible interface will be used for many things, from browsers to games.