Evaluation of an EEG/Electro-dermal Hybrid Device to Ascertain a User’s Attentional State

• Published in: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 2016-09, Vol.60 (1), p.26-30
• Main Authors: Davies, Simon R.H., Mistry, Urmila, Millen, Laura, Skrypchuk, Lee, Braithwaite, Jim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2169-5067; 1071-1813; 2169-5067
• DOI: 10.1177/1541931213601006

The purpose of this study was to evaluate an alleged EEG amplifier’s, the Freer Logic BodyWave, ability to record EEG by comparing its signals to those recorded at the same time by a proven EEG amplifier, the Emotiv EPOC+. The BodyWave’s circuitry is similar to that of an Electro-dermal Activity meter and alleges to record surface-EEG from a limb of the user. The EPOC+ has been proven in previous studies to record signals of high-enough quality to be used in research, whilst the BodyWave is unproven. In order to compare their recordings, both EEGs were worn simultaneously whilst different stimuli induced various brain states. 15 participants were recruited and each subjected to two different experimental paradigms meant to induce increased attention and increased relaxation. Both headsets achieved a classification accuracy well above chance when differentiating between the attention and relaxation tasks. Further testing provided evidence that data from the alpha and beta frequency bands was contributing the most to the classifier’s accuracy. However the total lack of correlation between the signals of the two devices strongly implies that the BodyWave is not measuring EEG. Despite this these results show that in some cases it can be used in place of an EEG to perform a similar function. It also proved to be much more robust against muscle artefacts compared to the EPOC+.