How different immersive environments affect intracortical brain computer interfaces

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Rehabilitation Engineering

Background:

• Advancements in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology enable diverse applications.
• Seamless environment switching is crucial for the clinical utility of BCI devices.
• Investigating virtual environment factors is key to optimizing BCI performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of virtual environment immersiveness on BCI decoder training and generalizability.
• To determine if virtual reality (VR) or monitor-based environments yield better BCI performance.
• To understand how BCI decoder performance transfers between different virtual environments.

Main Methods:

• Two participants with intracortical electrodes in the precentral gyrus controlled a virtual arm using a BCI.
• BCI decoders were trained and tested in both immersive VR and non-immersive monitor environments.
• Neural tuning and decoder performance were analyzed across different environmental conditions.

Main Results:

• Participant performance was superior in the environment with greater prior user experience.
• Virtual environment immersiveness had minimal influence on neural tuning for movement.
• BCI decoders demonstrated good generalizability between environments, though session order affected outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Prior user experience with a virtual environment is more critical than its immersiveness for BCI performance.
• BCI performance generalizes effectively across different virtual environments when accounting for user experience.
• Findings inform the design of more adaptable and effective BCI systems for clinical use.