We will develop a device to noninvasively gather brain activity signals and control an avatar. Current video games use virtual reality headsets and motion tracking to interface with games which allow for control of an avatar but require large play areas. Additionally, the interfaces require many individual units to track more areas of the body and can only track the movement of specific points of interest, with most units only tracking head and hand movement with physical buttons and joysticks for additional input. When certain areas are not tracked properly or a user must use a joystick or button, this can break immersion and reduce the overall experience. This project aims to create a device that eliminates the need for a large space and gives a wider array of inputs leading to deeper immersion by collecting data from the brain rather than user movement and by using less expensive components.
The primary objective of this project is to develop a prototype device to control an avatar by thought. A successful prototype would operate in real-time, use inexpensive components, be computationally efficient, produce few erroneous outputs, and handle a large number of intended actions. These features are necessary to allow for widespread adoption by consumers. Real-time operation with few erroneous outputs is necessary to ensure enjoyable user interaction, computational efficiency and inexpensive components will lower barriers to consumer purchase by allowing the device to be used with current gaming computers and reducing the cost of the device itself, and being able to handle a large number of intended actions will allow for more immersive video game interactions.