Weeks 11-12

Summary

During this period we went to MakerFaire and had a successful showing there and launched the crowdfunding campaign. All of this week's tasks and accomplishments were related to these two events.

*I have intentionally made the text part of this update much shorter than usual to allow readers to engage with the other content included on the page. Please watch the videos, look through the pictures, and navigate to the various included links.

As mentioned last week, all of our efforts shifted in preparation for MakerFaire. Researchers worked extra hard under the approaching deadline of November 16th, to finish their prototypes on time.

We had set pretty aggressive goals in terms of accuracy and ease of use. Most of our projects were finalized within these goals. Most of the items we decided to bring to MakerFaire were designed to engage the community in our work. As such, the projects we brought had a lot of curb appeal, while demonstrating the underlying technology.

Here are photos / videos of each featured project that was brought to MakerFaire

ASL-Controlled Tiger Head

The tiger head roars and its eyes light up when the user makes the sign for 'tiger'

Brain-controlled robot

Robot moves its head when a certain sequence of EEG data is detected.

EMG-controlled RC Car

Controllable RC race car using EMG signals with new electrode design.

EMG - Morse Code

Characters are printed in the box's screen based off of the sequence of muscle pulses and holds based off of Morse Code.

2x EEG headsets

The team completed building 2x OpenBCI headsets which allowed event attendees to see their brainwaves!

NeoPixel Bracelets

RGB LED bracelets that showed attendees how much their muscles were activating. More pixels light up and the colors change based off of their muscle activation.

All of the demos were a huge hit at the event and we far exceeded our goal about gaining public recognition and spreading the word about the technology. The entire time everyone on the team was engaged and talking to an endless stream of curious and excited attendees. In addition to this, we made several new contacts interested in working with us. The contacts ranged from PhD candidates looking to join the team, to reporters, Maker Faire staff who invited us attend a larger event in Buffalo, and chip / hardware manufacturers. We were even selected as one of only a handful of groups to be featured on the Rochester Maker Faire Facebook page (link).

Here are some photos from the event!

NXT Promotional Crowdfunding

Additionally, the NeuroTechnology Exploration launched its crowdfunding campaign on November 16, 2018. I have included the video and a link the the page. Please check them out!

Video

Crowdfunding Page

This Period's Accomplishments & Events

  • Dev Bhatt joins the team (11/9)

  • Two full EEG/ EMG sensing headsets finished (11/10)

  • EMG Morse Code project finished (11/11)

  • EEG Controlled helicopter completed (link) (11/12)

  • EMG Tiger Head project finished (link) (11/13)

  • EMG RGB bracelets finished (11/13)

  • NXT promotional video for crowdfunding completed (link) (11/14)

  • EMG-controlled RC project completed (11/15)

  • Featured on Rochester MakerFaire Facebook (link) (11/16)

  • Crowdfunding campaign launches (link) (11/16)

  • EEG-controlled robot project finished (link) (11/16)

  • Rochester MakerFaire (11/16 - 11/ 17)

  • Invited to Buffalo MakerFaire in Spring (11/17)

  • New flyer created for crowdfunding campaign (11/18)