Implementing EEG-Based Brain-Computer Interface Access to Commercial Speech Generating Devices
Abstract:
Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have long been considered a promising option for people with complex communication needs. However, most BCIs remain in the laboratory and the few BCIs on the market are not integrated into the clinically useful augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices available from long-established companies. With small business funding from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, Dr. Jane Huggins from the University of Michigan and Dr. Katya Hill from Gannon University have been working closely with an AAC device manufacturer to create wearable BCI access to an existing product line of speech generating devices. These efforts have produced a BCI add-on accessory that can access the language features of the speech generating devices. Laboratory and in-home testing focused on realistic communication tasks shows the effectiveness of the BCI for real-world communication and challenges and areas for future improvements.
Bio:
Dr. Huggins has been active in brain-computer interface (BCI) research since 1994. Her dissertation research on electrocorticogram (ECoG) for BCI access to assistive technology resulted in the founding of the University of Michigan Direct Brain Interface Laboratory, which she has led since 2007. Dr. Huggins trained in computer engineering and biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Michigan. She also completed a clinical rehabilitation engineering internship at the University of Michigan, giving her a unique combination of skills for the development of BCI access to assistive technology and augmentative and alternative communication. Her current focus is on making electroencephalogram (EEG)-based BCIs interfaces practical for people who need them. Ongoing research directions include interfacing BCIs to commercially available assistive technologies, improving BCI response time and no-control performance, identifying features and support necessary for successful independent BCI use by people with physical impairments, identifying the design preferences and priorities of potential BCI users, BCI applications in cognitive testing, and the identification and accommodation of user-specific characteristics that affect BCI function. She is particularly interested in the often ignored topic of how BCIs can remain available for communication but unobtrusive during periods when the user is not actively trying to make selections. Dr. Huggins was a founding member of the board of directors of the Brain-Computer Interface Society and now serves on the BCI Society's Communications Committee. Outside the lab, Dr. Huggins enjoys knitting, genealogy, birdwatching, cooking for her husband, and being Mom to her college-age children.