Brain-computer interface plays music based on person's mood

The duo from the universities of Reading and Plymouth believe the system could be used as a therapeutic aid for people suffering with certain forms of depression.

Dr Slawomir Nasuto, project leader at Reading University, told The Engineer: ‘When we perform some cognitive functions our brain generates lots of electrical activity, which can be recognised as fluctuations of tiny electrical potentials using non-invasive techniques.

‘If you can record these fluctuations and recognise what kind of activity is going on, a control command for a computer… could be provided.’

Traditionally, the user has had complete control over how a BCI system responds.

Nasuto said: ‘In our case, we are not asking the subject to be happy or sad. We want to recognise the subject’s state so we can provide the right stimulus. The subject is not in control and this is a very unique feature.’

He added that the project would use an electroencephalograph (EEG) to transfer the electrical signal from the patient’s scalp via a series of wires to an amplifier box, which, in turn, would be connected to a computer.