Paper Reading #26: Embodiment in brain-computer interaction

Embodiment in Brain-Computer Interaction


Authors - Kenton O’Hara, Abigail Sellen, and Richard Harper


Authors Bios - Kenton O’Hara is a Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research and works in the Socio Digital Systems Group.
Abigail Sellen is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and has a PhD from The University of California, San Diego where she studied under Don Norman.
Richard Harper is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and has a PhD from Manchester.


Venue - This paper was presented at the CHI '11 Proceedings of the 2011 annual conference on Human factors in computing systems.


Summary


Hypothesis - In this paper, researchers will present a deeper understanding of Brain-Computer Interaction (BCI) as it relates to practical use and what users think of such technology. The hypothesis is that the researchers will gain useful insight as to when and where BCI should be used for maximum effectiveness and report on current user perspectives on such devices.


Methods - To determine user perception of BCI, the researchers conduct a study that uses the MindFlex game. MindFlex is a commercially available product that measures a user's "focus" and uses that measurement to control a fan that can raise or lift a ball in the air. The more focus detected, the faster the fan blows, the higher the ball floats. 16 participants were found for the study and were in 4 distinct social groups meaning they knew each other prior to the study. Each group was given a MindFlex game for one week, video recording every play session which was to be analyzed by the researchers once returned.


Results - Upon examination of the video submissions, the researchers found many properties they believe to be common to BCI use especially in social settings. They found the following:

• Bodily Orientation and Focus - Participants often moved their body or performed physical gestures in an attempt to control focus. Clenching fists and steady gazes on the ball were usually signs of focus whereas wandering eyes and hands were associated with reducing focus. An important aspect of the game was the ability to hear the fan when looking elsewhere allowing for monitoring even when not paying attention
• Mental Imagery and Narrative - Participants created narratives to help control the ball at times even though they had nothing to do with the game directly. For example thinking of things that fly was a common strategy for raising the ball but it wasn't the thought that was raising the ball, it was the increased concentration that went along with thinking about it. The converse did not apply to this game as thinking of things lowering only increased concentration also increasing the ball's altitude. These concepts should be considered when designing games and other applications using BCI as it seems people will try to apply their own intuitions to the control method.
• Intentionality and Invisibility - Communication while using BCI can be complicated as the action being performed can be perceived as a form of communication so, for example if a spectator gives a user a suggestion and the user does not respond, the spectator will think they are being ignored and continue to suggest or ask if the user understood. If no discernible action is being performed while playing the game, some users felt the need to communicate what was going on by saying it out loud or by gesturing for what they intend to do.
• Play as Performance - Some users felt the need to make operating with BCI more entertaining by exaggerating gestures or verbally commenting. 
• Spectatorship Verabalisations and Play - The genericity of the MindFlex game allowed for unique interactions between friends and family members as they are able to make inferences about certain thoughts based on the movement of the ball or maybe even help the user by distracting them with something that they know will work.

Content - The first point made by the researchers is that physical and social interactions need to be considered when designing BCI applications as these will be important for communicating what is only within a person's head. The researchers also point out that one way of expanding BCI application is to build in physical interaction that would help with communicating intentions and help people think appropriately. A downside to a more narrow interaction scheme is that open interpretation is limited which limits unique social interactions which could be a major selling point for BCI applications.


Conclusion - The researchers conclude by saying that future BCI design needs to incorporate physical and social aspects along with the mental. This paper has shown that these aspects are what set BCI games apart from traditional thinking.


Discussion


I think the researchers achieve their goal of broadening the concept of BCI application design to include physical and social interactions which will hopefully lead to more research of this kind. I think the fact that MindFlex is already available to the public is a huge step forward for this technology and will bring much needed public interest to the topic.