g.tec medical engineering GmbH (AT)

The BR41N.IO Hackathon brings together engineers, programmers, physicians, designers, artists and fashionistas to collaborate intensively as an interdisciplinary team. They plan and produce their own fully functional EEG-based brain-computer interface headpiece to control a drone, a Sphero or e-puck robot or an orthosis with motor imagery.

FRI Sept. 8, 2017

SAT Sept. 9, 2017

Whenever they think of a right-arm movement, their device performs a defined action. The programmers create an interface which allows them to control robots and other devices with their thoughts alone. The artists among the hackers make artistic paintings or post and tweet a status update. And hackers who are enthusiasts in tailoring or 3D printing give their BCI headpiece an artistic and unique design. And finally, kids create their very own ideas of an interactive head accessory inspired by animals, mythical creatures or their fantasy.

Inspired by the unique Agent Unicorn headpiece from fashion-technology artist Anouk Wipprecht, the BR41N.IO Brain-Computer Interface Designers Hackathon challenges young geeks to design and build a unique, playful and wearable brain-computer interface (BCI) headpiece. The BCI measures brain activity and enable users to control a robot or smart device, to communicate or paint using just their thoughts.

Twenty years ago, brain-computer interfaces could only move computer cursors. Today, machine learning is one component of BCIs that will be used in many different fields of neuroscience, such as motor rehabilitation of stroke patients, assessment of and communication with coma patients, control of devices for disabled people, cognitive training or neuromarketing. BR41N.IO shows these current and future developments and the unlimited possibilities of brain-computer interfaces in creative or scientific fields, and how artificial intelligence, life science, art and technology become a unity to evolve innovative and exceptional BCI headpieces.

Credits

BR41N.IO is organized by g.tec medical engineering GmbH | Schiedlberg | Austria

Dragan Ilić (RS/AU/US)

A3 K3 is a unique interactive experience. Artworks are created by machine technology and audience participation. Dragan Ilić uses an elaborate brain-computer interface (BCI) system where he controls a hi-tech robot with his brain via state-of-the-art technology.

Members of the audience are invited to try out the BCI technology. The artist and the audience draw and paint on a vertical and a horizontal canvas with the assistance of the robot. The robotic arm is fitted with DI drawing devices that clamp, hold and manipulate various artistic media. They can then create attractive, large-format artworks. Ilić thus provides a context in which people will be able to enhance and augment their abilities in making art. Thanks to the support of g.tec, Dragan Ilić will undertake further research with AI systems/human interaction in the process of making art.

Credits

This program is supported by g.tec and GV Art London.

The first Cybathlon was successfully launched in 2016 as an international event in which people with disabilities or physical weakness use advanced assistive devices, including robotic technologies, to compete against each other. Sixty-six pilots assisted by 400 team members in 56 teams from 25 nations, participated in six different disciplines. One discipline is the Brain-Computer Interface Race, where an avatar in a computer game is controlled purely by brain waves. Can you do it as well?

Credits

Project: CYBATHLON / ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Inventor and initiator: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Robert Riener

BCI Game: BrainRunners, developed for the BCI Race of the Cybathlon 2016 in cooperation with ETH Zurich and Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), Switzerland