1. DIY Brainwave Monitoring
Nick Carter 1/9/16
None of this information endorses the safety or applicability of the included or referenced designs for any purpose or that they are safe to use when connected to a human body.
ANYONE USING THESE DESIGNS DOES SO AT THEIR OWN RISK
This warning is appropriate.

2. Looking at Reading Your Own Brainwaves? Build or Buy?
None of these are guaranteed safe to use and in some cases you even are advised against connecting them to your body – especially whan any connected equipment is connected to AC supply!
None pass standards for medical use or safety. Open EEG says this compliance would add cost of about $8000.
You can totally build your own
Cheap but messy – I have seen one that uses guitar picks for sensors even.
You can use Open EEG’s design and technology ~ $200 one channel
Uses 1 or more wet electrodes – cost multiplies – lots of info here
You can use OpenBCI design and technology $100 (basic board) to $900 full R&D kit
It has 16 channels for EEG, ECG, EMG, EKG - you can 3D print the headset
You can buy a Neurosky EEG setup~ $99 (actually not bad)
Mindwave and Mindwave Mobile (Bluetooth)
Games
Support to interface to Arduino, PC, iOS, Android
Free research tools
You can buy a MindFlex Mattel/Neurosky toy and hack it. < $25 + maybe $10 other parts
And you can still likely use the free research tools (but I have not tried it)
This is a bit more work and you might destroy the equipment (have to connect to SMT TGAM board)
HC-06 Bluetooth modules for Arduino are $1.60!
Neurosky make a range of toys where players can use their brain activity to control activities on the toy like operating a fan to move foam balls.
The toys, marketed by Mattel e.g. (MindFlex) use a single sensor headset and proprietary amplifier and filtering board that Neurosky embeds in their headsets and also sells separately to developers together with a development tool suite.
On the Internet there are several people that published how they have hacked into the headsets to get the filtered and the raw data.
I have used their implementations to see the Headset data and they work
Headsets are available on the Internet for < $25 and are not difficult to modify

3. What can you do with it? Maybe not as much as you would like
Interpretation is difficult – but there is a lot of info out there
You can see electrical brain activity
Neurosky module provides filtered output frequency levels
Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta averages
FrontierNerds has SW to display these (Arduino and PC)
Raw Data with more modification and work (SW or HW)
Matlab can display the output (costs $$)
Maybe you can write your own or find an app on Internet.
You can play the games if you buy MindWave/MindFlex
You can sense - Attention/Focus, Relaxation/Calmness
MindWave/MindFlex provides/uses these output levels
Otherwise you have to do the math probably (FFTs expected)
You can use these values to control things – but reaction time is not fast

4. Frontier Nerds Hack PC using their Processing App. Bar Graph Values of
Serial/USB cable
Parsed based on Neurosky
mindset communications protocol
Samples move this way at 1/Sec
Bar Graph Values of
Current Sample

5. The Neurosky TGAM board ThinkGear Access Module?
Features
Uses dry rather than medical wet electrodes
Filters for Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta wave frequencies
Processed for “Attention” , “Meditation” outputs used in toys
Outputs at ~ once a Sec.
Measures raw brainwave signal, at 512 bits/Sec in non-default mode
Interfaces using serial data packets on a bidirectional Interface
Tx/Rx lines at 0-3.3V
Standard mode (used in toy ) is 9600 Bd
Raw Data mode (requires a board modification or SW) is Bd
Both modes give summary filtered data
Neurosky pdf file at
10K
GND B0
VCC (3.3V)
Bd Bd Rx
Data
I added these here
Tx data
Vcc
Ground
Connect B1 and VCC together
for Bd
Source TGAM Product pdf

6. Modified Headset1 Tx and Ground wires added
for Arduino Tx/Gnd default data
Tx (blue) Rx Blue/stripe and Ground (black) and VCC (white) wires added for Bluetooth HC-06
Also strap B1 to VCC (red) for Bd
For Raw Data feed + default data
Frontier Nerd wired up

7. Modified Headset2 Connections TGAM Rx TGAM Tx Gnd Vcc* TestPoint B1*
*Wired to switch
For Bd
selection

8. Interpretation?? Filtered Frequencies Delta (1-3Hz): sleep
Theta (4-7Hz): relaxed, meditative
Low Alpha (8-9Hz): eyes closed, relaxed
High Alpha (10-12Hz)
Low Beta (13-17Hz): alert, focused
High Beta (18-30Hz)
Low Gamma (31-40Hz): multi-sensory processing
High Gamma (41-50Hz
Proprietary filters for Attention and Meditation
You will need to look at these
and correlate them to activity.
Note that only 1 sensor is used

9. Neurosky Proprietary Indicators (Used in Toys)
Attention:
Indicates the intensity of a user’s level of mental “focus” or “attention”, such as that which occurs during intense concentration and directed (but stable) mental activity. Distractions, wandering thoughts, lack of focus, or anxiety may lower the Attention meter levels.
Meditation:
Indicates the level of a user’s mental “calmness” or “relaxation”. Meditation is related to reduced activity by the active mental processes in the brain, and it has long been an observed effect that closing one’s eyes turns off the mental activities which process images from the eyes, so closing the eyes is often an effective method for increasing the Meditation meter level. Distractions, wandering thoughts, anxiety, agitation, and sensory stimuli may lower the Meditation meter levels.

10. Other Things “Blink Strength Indicator”
According to the documentation, some version of the Neurosky product produces this.
- It needs to specially enabled. Not sure how.
It is based on an artifact and there is info how to find this in software from raw samples.
(Muscle voltage spikes over brain waves.)
Discussion and info on blink detection
This is the referenced code for blink detection
Design
Despite only one sensor, and a reference earclip the design is very good, and uses proper
technique for good common mode rejection as shown here :
Bio Sensor Kickstarter
EEG things to do – Shark robot and more….

11. Connect MindFlex over Bluetooth
Make your own using HC-05/06 module
Depending on implementation the TGAM can be
programmed to go to Bd over the serial
port or Bluetooth by a cheat to simulate the
instructions at 9600 Bd (default rate)
if you do not implement it in Hardware.
(headset mod.)
There are also instructions on Internet for putting the BT inside the headset but it is very tight.
Discussion and info on blink detection
This is the referenced code for blink detection
Design for muscle electrical activity pickup
DIY Electromyography
EEG Robot Car Control ??
Mindwave Mobile also does eyeblinks it seems

12. Measuring Intensity of Concentration
Brain activity measurement is updated in the graph once every second and flows right to left.
Measuring Intensity of Concentration
Measuring Level of Brain Calmness (Meditation)
Measuring SpecificTypes of Brain waves