title: Walking from thought.
abstract: Online analysis and classification of single electroencephalogram (EEG) trials during motor imagery were used for navigation in the virtual environment (VE). The EEG was recorded bipolarly with electrode placement over the hand and foot representation areas. The aim of the study was to demonstrate for the first time that it is possible to move through a virtual street without muscular activity when the participant only imagines feet movements. This is achieved by exploiting a brain-computer interface (BCI) which transforms thought-modulated EEG signals into an output signal that controls events within the VE. The experiments were carried out in an immersive projection environment, commonly referred to as a "Cave" (Cruz-Neira, C., Sandin, D.J., DeFanti, T.A., Surround-screen projection-based virtual reality: the design and implementation of the CAVE. Proceedings of the 20th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques, ACM Press, 1993, pp. 135-142) where participants were able to move through a virtual street by foot imagery only. Prior to the final experiments in the Cave, the participants underwent an extensive BCI training.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Brain-Computer Interfaces, Graz University of Technology, Inffeldgasse 16a, A-8010 Graz, Austria. pfurtscheller@tugraz.at
authors.forename: Gert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pfurtscheller
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Leeb
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Keinrath
authors.forename: Doron
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Christa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Neuper
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guger
authors.forename: Mel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Slater
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003196:Computer Graphics; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology*; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D009862:Online Systems; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology*; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*