Cortically coupled computer vision with Emotiv headset using distractor variables

Visual search tasks can take long amounts of time and the more complicated the image is the longer it takes to find a target. Therefore, it is of interest to come up with a system that can augment a searcher´s vision, in relation to speed, enabling the searcher to find the target faster than through normal means. Audition and vision are important for both communicative and informational purposes and therefore neurological signatures related to such abilities can greater increase cognitive infocommunicative devices. The P300 neurological response is a well known event-related potential that identifies the recognition of a target in such a search task. Clinical electroencephalogram (EEG) technology has previously been used to detect the P300 signature in response to target recognition during a Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP). Following the oddball paradigm, this study uses the 14-electrode Emotiv EPOC to detect the P300 in eight subjects performing a novel Where´s Waldo target recognition task with the success criterion to optimize their completion time. In this paradigm, the number of targets and distractors are varied following a geometric distribution in order to have the participants engage in the task throughout the session. Although the Emotiv EPOC is crude in comparison to other EEG systems such as those with 256 electrodes, our results show better search times compared to baseline, and thus proves the feasibility of augmented vision even with such a limited system.