Preliminary Analysis and Proof-of-Concept Validation of a Neuronally Controlled Visual Assistive Device Integrating...

Contemporary visual assistive devices often lack immersive user experience due to passive control systems. This study introduces a neuronally controlled visual assistive device (NCVAD) that aims to assist visually impaired users in performing reach tasks with active, intuitive control. The developed NCVAD integrates computer vision, electroencephalogram (EEG) signal processing, and robotic manipulation to facilitate object detection, selection, and assistive guidance. The monocular vision-based subsystem implements the YOLOv8n algorithm to detect objects of daily use. Then, audio prompting conveys the detected objects' information to the user, who selects their targeted object using a voluntary trigger decoded through real-time EEG classification. The target's physical coordinates are extracted using ArUco markers, and a gradient descent-based path optimization algorithm (POA) guides a 3-DoF robotic arm to reach the target. The classification algorithm achieves over 85% precision and recall in decoding EEG data, even with coexisting physiological artifacts. Similarly, the POA achieves approximately 650 ms of actuation time with a 0.001 learning rate and 0.1 cm² error threshold settings. In conclusion, the study also validates the preliminary analysis results on a working physical model and benchmarks the robotic arm's performance against human users, establishing the proof-of-concept for future assistive technologies integrating EEG and computer vision paradigms.