Cognitive Momentum
Brain-Computer Interface
Imperial College London, UK
Team members:
Aye Mon Myo, Vikrant Sethia, Mark Wright, Prakhar Lunia, Will He, Hsiang-Hsiang Liu, Ziyang Zhou
Cognitive Momentum
We use BCI to innovate existing electric wheelchairs. Our aim is to provide a greater mobility and independence for you.
Our product is still in its development stage. But feel free to read more about our current progress and how far we've come!
We're a group of students at Imperial College London that aim to improve the lives of those with restricted mobility.
Emotiv EPOC device
Golden Lite Envy
Raspberry Pi 3 - Model B
What We Do
Immobility is often a significant area of concern for those suffering from disabilities, illnesses or aging.
According to the International Labour Organisation, there are approximately 600 million people who are classed as disabled worldwide as of July 2011, of which 6 million people are living with paralysis in the US alone.
While there already exists a number of assistive technology to improve the mobility of the disabled and the elderly to live more independent lives, the technology for patients with severe neuromuscular disorders – such as ALS, brain stem, stroke and spinal cord injury – is still limited as they are not able to control electric wheelchairs using conventional methods.
However, with the recent advancements in neurotechnology - especially in the area of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) – combined with existing assistive technology, there may finally be a solution that will allow improved mobility for patients suffering from some form of paralysis.
BCI is a relatively new technology that allows for direct communication between your brain and the device. While there are various BCI technologies that have been developed over the years, our product will use electroencephalography (EEG) to detect your neuronal activity since it is non-invasive, meaning you don't have to go through any operations. It's also cheaper and portable, making it more convenient and affordable for you to use.
EEG detects electrical activity in your brain using electrodes attached to your scalp. We've got an Emotiv EPOC headset that uses EEG to detect the signals required for controlling the wheelchair. It consists of multiple electrodes and they'll be placed on your scalp - easy to put on, easy to take off.
Our target market is people who have restricted mobility due to an illness or ageing, particularly those who suffer from severe neuromuscular disorders such as ALS and spinal cord injury. These diseases, as they progress, prevent the person from reliably employing their hands to control their mobility vehicle. We aim to help them gain independence in their mobility by using BCI as the control method.
Our Product
- All
- High Level Design
- Control Algorithm
- Low Level Design
Meet the Team
Our team is made up of 7 students studying Electrical & Electronic Engineering at Imperial College London. If you have any questions about the product, our idea, or our current progress, feel free to contact any of us!
-
Mark Wright
mkw14@ic.ac.uk -
Karna Sethia
vks114@ic.ac.uk -
Prakhar Lunia
pl2014@ic.ac.uk -
Aye Mon Myo
amm213@ic.ac.uk -
Ziyang Zhou
zz5914@ic.ac.uk -
Wenkun He
wh1114@ic.ac.uk -
Hsiang-Hsiang Liu
hl3614@ic.ac.uk
What Next
Currently we have a working prototype using our EEBug.
However, to achieve our initial concept, there are several features we still need to include:
1. Implementation using our code instead of the SDK
2. Safety sensors
3. The use of the BCI headset, instead of a simulation
4. Implementation of all of these in conjunction with the electric wheelchair
Once all of these features are realised, our product will be ready for final testing and production!
- Adress: Imperial College London, UK.
- Email: zz5914@ic.ac.uk
- Phone: +44 7562959648
- Website: http://www.ee.ic.ac.uk/ziyang.zhou14/yr2proj/