Demonstration of Joie: A Joy-based Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) with Wearable Skin Conformal Polymer Electrodes

Abstract

We designed Joie, a joy-based electroencephalography (EEG) brain-computer interface (BCI). Users interact with Joie by imagining joyous thoughts and images that alter their prefrontal EEG asymmetries. These asymmetries control their character’s movement in an endless runner video game, where joyous thoughts cause left prefrontal asymmetry that leads to receiving a reward. In this demonstration, we present Joie with a wearable, dry skin conformal polymer electrode EEG headband. We conducted a pilot evaluation (11 participants, 3 training sessions per participant) to assess neurofeedback efficacy and workload. We observed that our participants were able to perform relative left activation significantly greater than right activation and create single-session improvements in resting baseline asymmetry. We also report on perceived user demand, effort and performance.