Breakthrough in emotion measurement for therapeutic, learning and gaming applications

January 9, 2018

By eeNews Europe

imec and Holst Centre will use the CES exhibition to demonstrate a prototype of an electroencephalogram (EEG) headset that is intended to measure emotions and cognitive processes in the brain.

EEG brain scans are normally used for medical diagnosis, but more recently the scans have been used to detect and measure emotional responses, which opens up a host of further applications, including therapy, learning and gaming. To access these new applications requires real-time emotional detection. The technology behind the process is well understood, but the equipment used to perform the scans has traditionally been uncomfortable for users and keeping the electrodes in the correct position has been difficult.

The new headset developed by imec enhances user-comfort with a light frame and uses Datwyler’s active high-quality EEG dry-electrodes, combined with advanced software to provide accurate real-time monitoring of the frontal EEG signals.

The headset also features a headphone jack and a Bluetooth connectivity to allow the playback of music, which can be used to emotionally influence the user. AI can teach the headset the user’s musical preferences and compose and playback music that fits these preferences and influences emotions to achieve the wearers’ desired emotional state. The machine learning algorithms to achieve this were developed by Osaka University under the Center of Innovation (COI) Program.

More information

https://www.imec-int.com/