From touch to brain control: Augmenting communication in persons with ALS

Brain Computer Interface (BCI) systems aim to provide people with severe motor impairment with an additional/alternative channel to communicate and interact with the external world. At the state of the art there are several custom computer programs specifically developed to be controlled through a BCI. However from the end users' point of view it is important to become familiar with their own assistive device before the BCI represents the only way to access it. The Brindisys project aims at designing and developing a general assistive technology to support communication and autonomy in people with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) from the onset of the disease to the locked-in phase. The prototype consists of a specific interface allowing for communication and environmental control that can be managed both with conventional/assistive input devices and with a P300-based BCI. This work describes the system functionalities and reports the results of a preliminary assessment with end users and healthy control subjects.