NeuroControl BlinkTalk

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OVERVIEW
The NeuroControl BlinkTalk™ application translates electromyography (EMG) signals from a NeuroSky MindWave™ headband into patterns that can be associated with verbal phrases. The target recipient of this system is a person suffering from a severe mobility impairment such as locked-in syndrome or paraplegia, where the primary - or only - level of physical control is through the blinking of the eyes.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
A NeuroSky MindWave commercial brainwave monitor is required for this application to work correctly. These devices are available for a low price to any consumer interested in exploring this fascinating technology (www.neurosky.com). The NeuroSky software driver toolkit must be installed prior to using this application. BlinkTalk was design to run on standard desktop, laptop and Ultrabook™ computers running Windows 7 or 8. Further system requirements are stated in the NeuroSky user manual and literature.

USING BLINKTALK
Although BlinkTalk is a Windows desktop application, the user interface is designed in a Metro-like style to convey user information clearly. The buttons are oversized to facilitate patients with limited mobility and caregivers to more easily interact with computers like an Ultrabook that feature Touch capability.

When BlinkTalk is running the user will see a table on the left side of the screen with the top row "color-scanning" from right to left. Whenever a column is highlighted, the user will attempt to change the True/False (T or F) status of the block by blinking hard to set the status to "T" or blinking softly to set the block's status to "F". The idea is to create a pattern of four T or F values after all four columns have been color-scanned (i.e., TTFT, TFTF, etc.)

As shown in the body of the table, there are 15 possible combinations of patterns, each associated with a verbal phrase that is spoken through the computer using voice synthesis. This version of BlinkTalk is limited to verbal speech commands only, but we have developed versions that can also be used to control external devices. (Please visit our website for a description and video demonstration: http://human-machinetechnologies.com/project-EyeBlink.html)

Next to the blink-phrase table are three tiles that convey information about the operational status and settings of the program: Blink Data, App Settings and MindWave Data.

BLINK DATA
Strength - Indicates the relative strength of an eye-blink (0 to 255).

Threshold - User-configurable setting to determine hard vs. soft blinks.

State - The current T/F state (T if greater than Threshold, F if less).

APP SETTINGS
Scan Rate - User-configurable setting to control the color-scanning speed.

Com Port - User-configurable port setting for the MindWave headband.

MINDWAVE DATA
Signal - Indication of signal strength from the MindWave (0=Good, 200=Bad).

Attention - Interpretation of the "Attention" eSense data from the MindWave.

Meditation - Interpretation of the "Meditation" eSense data from the MindWave.

Copyright (c) 2012, Human-Machine Technologies, Inc.