title: The BCI competition. III: Validating alternative approaches to actual BCI problems.
abstract: A brain-computer interface (BCI) is a system that allows its users to control external devices with brain activity. Although the proof-of-concept was given decades ago, the reliable translation of user intent into device control commands is still a major challenge. Success requires the effective interaction of two adaptive controllers: the user's brain, which produces brain activity that encodes intent, and the BCI system, which translates that activity into device control commands. In order to facilitate this interaction, many laboratories are exploring a variety of signal analysis techniques to improve the adaptation of the BCI system to the user. In the literature, many machine learning and pattern classification algorithms have been reported to give impressive results when applied to BCI data in offline analyses. However, it is more difficult to evaluate their relative value for actual online use. BCI data competitions have been organized to provide objective formal evaluations of alternative methods. Prompted by the great interest in the first two BCI Competitions, we organized the third BCI Competition to address several of the most difficult and important analysis problems in BCI research. The paper describes the data sets that were provided to the competitors and gives an overview of the results.
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer FIRST (IDA), D-12489 Berlin, Germany. benjamin.blankertz@first.fraunhofer.de
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Blankertz
authors.forename: Klaus-Robert
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Dean J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Krusienski
authors.forename: Gerwin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schalk
authors.forename: Jonathan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Wolpaw
authors.forename: Alois
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schlögl
authors.forename: Gert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pfurtscheller
authors.forename: José del R
authors.initials: Jdel R
authors.lastname: Millán
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schröder
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Birbaumer
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003143:Communication Devices for People with Disabilities; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009468:Neuromuscular Diseases / Q000534:rehabilitation; D012986:Software Validation; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical / Q000379:methods*; D014584:User-Computer Interface