DIY Brain Computer Interfaces and how to build you own

[mozfest-bot]

[ UUID ] 7877e5c7-4ccf-42cf-959e-cc536e199cd3

[ Session Name ] DIY Brain Computer Interfaces and how to build you own [ Primary Space ] Decentralization [ Secondary Space ] Open Innovation

[ Submitter's Name ] Sydney Swaine-Simon [ Submitter's Affiliated Organisation ] NeuroTechX [ Submitter's Github ] @syswsi

What will happen in your session?

Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI's ) is a growing field that was for a long time limited to only researchers to create. However, now anyone can make their own with the right parts. This workshop will give participants the opportunity to learn about the fundamentals of BCI's, the different open source tools and resources available. Users will get the opportunity to make their own during the workshop

What is the goal or outcome of your session?

Participants will learn about different open source tools and headsets which can be used for Brain Computer Interfaces. They will discover how easy it is to put one together and will be able to learn how to replicate the results at home. At

If your session requires additional materials or electronic equipment, please outline your needs.

People will need to bring their laptops, so make sure that they there is enough power bars

Time needed

60 mins

[jontutcher]

Hey @syswsi! This looks like a really fun proposal, and it's good to have some more 'hands on' sessions in the mix.

Could you expand a bit on how you think this ties into decentralization as a theme? I can imagine a lot of ties but it'd be nice to hear your thoughts - and will help us work out where best to put the session!

Cheers, Jon

[syswsi]

Hi Jon,

Sorry for the slow reply. This email got lost among the many. Essentially what I'm aiming for this in the workshop is to help and spread the use of open source tools and frameworks that can be used for Brain Computer Interface. The field of Neurotechnology has been one which has been limited in participants due to the high level of education required, and limitation to using only proprietary tools. For example, one of the most common EEG tools used, EEGLab https://sccn.ucsd.edu/eeglab/index.php, is something which only functions in MatLab. The tool is open source, but not everyone can use it.

My workshop will help to teach people how easy it is to get started with Brain Computer Interfaces, how you can leverage pre-existing decentralized tools to make your own. I will also make them aware of the open source hardware schematics that exist which one can leverage for their projects.

Essentially I'm "Decentralizing" BCI research from something that can only be done in a lab and providing the capability to any citizen neuroscientist/neuroengineer.

I hope that makes sense. Perhaps my definition of decentralized might be different from yours, so please let me know if you had something else in mind.

Thanks,

On Thu, Jul 27, 2017 at 12:04 PM, Jon Tutcher notifications@github.com wrote:

Hey @syswsi https://github.com/syswsi! This looks like a really fun proposal, and it's good to have some more 'hands on' sessions in the mix.

Could you expand a bit on how you think this ties into decentralization as a theme? I can imagine a lot of ties but it'd be nice to hear your thoughts

• and will help us work out where best to put the session!

Cheers, Jon

— You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/MozillaFoundation/mozfest-program-2017/issues/188#issuecomment-318408068, or mute the thread https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABz7nouvhfP6zELtbEusjBlo_pUDLUcMks5sSLUMgaJpZM4Ogl45 .

[cubicgarden]

Thanks but we wont be able to take this session this time around sorry... do apply next year! Thanks

[syswsi]

Hi Ian,

That's unfortunate. Can I have an explanation as to why it wasn't accepted?

Cheers

On Sep 1, 2017 10:29 AM, "Ian Forrester" notifications@github.com wrote:

Thanks but we wont be able to take this session this time around sorry... do apply next year! Thanks

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[cubicgarden]

There has been so many great sessions and the quality has been so high. The whole team looked at it and discussed saying Its a good session but unfortunately there had to be a lot we couldn't take into the festival.

[syswsi]

Ok Understandable. What would increase my chances of getting accepted next year? Was the subject not well enough aligned with the conference?

On Fri, Sep 1, 2017 at 11:30 AM, Ian Forrester notifications@github.com wrote:

There has been so many great sessions and the quality has been so high. The whole team looked at it and discussed saying Its a good session but unfortunately there had to be a lot we couldn't take into the festival. Do apply again next year for sure

— You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/MozillaFoundation/mozfest-program-2017/issues/188#issuecomment-326611325, or mute the thread https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABz7nkzDmzJauL232VZOvMPxu7ADMc4yks5seCMqgaJpZM4Ogl45 .

[EPIKhub]

@syswsi Ill take your session into the youth zone

[syswsi]

Hi!

So has the project been selected? If so, is there any special preparations for the Youth zone?

[EPIKhub]

@syswsi we are still curating the final few sessions that did not pick the youth zone as their first space choice. We will let you know over the weekend cc/ @gbaman

[jdpigeon]

I'd like to take over organizing this workshop. @syswsi will be helping me out with #264 in return

[KirstieJane]

Hi @jdpigeon and @syswsi - does it make sense to have two sessions at MozFest this year? Would it be better to just combine forces and put on one great session?

[jdpigeon]

AFIU, the two sessions we have now are very different - one a workshop and one a exhibit booth. We'd like to keep them distinct for that reason

[gbaman]

Looking at the hardware requirements for this session, you mention participants need to bring their own laptops. With the YouthZone given a majority of attendees are then young people so this simply can not been assumed. In general each year we see a very small percentage of the young people coming through YouthZone have their own laptops with them.

We do have a mobile set of Raspberry Pi 3s (in pitop laptop units), would these be suitable for this session or does it need more powerful hardware?

As well, how many computers are required for the session total that you are unable to provide @jdpigeon @syswsi

[gbaman]

@syswsi @jdpigeon I have not had a YouthZone facilitator administration online form be completed for this session. It has been emailed out twice now over the past few weeks to the email address associated with this session. Could this please be filled in ASAP or this session may not be able to take place. If you have any issues completing the form or have actually already filled it in, please let us know.

[syswsi]

Hi @gbaman. Sorry for the delay. I missed it in my emails. Is it this form? https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSenhrUmUix9dZeDeaEdVdSDpOlDiAqJqt2GGQVVM0nvn3q4ZQ/viewform

[jdpigeon]

Hey @gbaman,

Sorry for the delay with filling out the admin form. There was some confusion with the hand-over between me and Sydney.

About the hardware requirements, we've decided to change things up. Instead of running the workshop on laptops we'll use the Android app EEG 101 to run the session (it has a significant interactive component). Kids won't need to bring anything but a smartphone to participate. We'll provide all the Muse headbands, and if they happen to have iPhones we'll bring an extra Android tablet or two that they can borrow.