1. Kick-off Meeting Luigi Bianchi “Tor Vergata” University of Rome, Italy
IEEE P2731: Standard for a Unified Terminology for Brain-Computer Interfaces
Kick-off Meeting
Luigi Bianchi “Tor Vergata” University of Rome, Italy

2. IEEE P2731 Unified Terminology for BCI - WG
Agenda
1. Call to Order
2. Participant Introduction and Affiliation Declarations
3. EMB Standards Committee Overview
4. IEEE Standards Development Process Presentation
5. Approval of Agenda
6. Approval of WG Policies and Procedures (P&P)
7. IEEE Patent Policies/ Call for Patents
8. Overview of P2731
9. WG Methods
10. Future Meetings’ Goals
11. Adjourn

3. IEEE P2731 Unified Terminology for BCI - WG
Multidisciplinarity
Psicology
Engineering
Neurology
Computer Science
Information Theory
Neuroscience
Robotics
Users
Caregivers ….
Classification
Cortical area recorded
Extracted features
Feedback sensory modality
Application
Input signals …

4. IEEE P2731 Unified Terminology for BCI - WG
Motivation
Too much time spent to «synchronize» the terminology among people
Too often impossible to compare systems
Too much time spent to reproduce/adapt tools and methods
Too much effort spent to share resources
Virtually impossible to allow interoperability among existing systems. …
CAN A USER REALIZE WHICH BCI IS MORE SUITABLE FOR HIS/HER NEEDS?
THIS DRAMATICALLY LIMITS PROGRESS!
BCI
BMI
BNCI
BraINterface

5. IEEE P2731 Unified Terminology for BCI - WG
History (recent)
Seventh International BCI Meeting, 2018, Asilomar, California
Standards for neurotechnologies and Brain-Machine Interfacing
Walter Besio, University of Rhode Island
Carole Carey, IEEE EMBC
Ricardo Chavarriaga, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)
José Contreras-Vidal, University of Houston
Tim Mullen, Intheon
Ander Ramos-Murguialday, University of Tübingen

6. IEEE P2731 Unified Terminology for BCI - WG
History (early)
2nd International BCI Meeting, 2002, Rensselaerville, New York
Mason and McFarland
Is a common framework possible?
Papers
Mason et al., 2003, 2005
Bianchi et al., 2007
Quitadamo et al., 2008

8. IEEE P2731 Unified Terminology for BCI - WG
Motivation
Lack of a common language
What is a BCI? Or BMI? Or BI?
Common framework. Is it possible?
What is a Trial? Session? Run?
What does “Real-Time” mean?
Lack of common methods
Metrics
Accuracy?
Overhead?
What are users expectations?

9. Functional Model of a BCI system
Control Interface
Translation of LSs into Semantic Symbols (SSs) by means of encoding strategies
Transducer
Collection Stage
EEG, ECoG, fMRI, fNIRS,…
Classifier
Extraction of the features of interest and translation into Logical Symbols (LSs)
‘B’,’C’,’I’
Application Control
Encoding of SSs into commands towards output devices
S.G. Mason, et al., “A general framework for Characterizing Studies of Brain Interface Technology,” Ann. Biomed. Eng., 2005.
L.R. Quitadamo et al. “Describing different brain computer interface systems through a unique model: a UML implementation”, Neuroinformatics, 2008.

10. An example: a P300 Speller
What’s a BCI?

11. An example: a P300 Speller

13. C4 R3 P... R3∙C4= P An example: a P3 Speller Encoder Output R1∙C1 = A
R1∙C2 = B
...
R3∙C4= P
Output
Write an
P...
What’s a BCI?
S.G. Mason et al.,” Ann. Biomed. Eng., 2005.
L.R. Quitadamo et al, Neuroinformatics,, 2008.

14. IEEE P2731 Unified Terminology for BCI - WG
WorkGroup Objective
The purpose of the standard is to provide unified terminology and definitions for BCIs.

15. IEEE P2731 Unified Terminology for BCI - WG
WG Methods: an iterative process
Multidisciplinarity
Psicology
Engineering
Neurology
Computer Science
Information Theory
Neuroscience
Robotics
Manufacturers
Users
Caregivers ….
Model
Definitions
Methods
Test
External inputs
IEEE P2794: Reporting Standards for in Vivo Neural Interface Research
BCI Society
Journals …

16. IEEE P2731 Unified Terminology for BCI - WG
WG Methods: Multidisciplinarity
Is it a problem?

17. IEEE P2731 Unified Terminology for BCI - WG
standards must provide clear advantages to the whole community, including patients, manufacturers, scientists and health professionals, in terms of quality, safety and efficiency;
they must be minimally “invasive” with existing systems. In other words, actual system should not need to be largely modified in order to made them standard compliant;
they should not reinvent the wheel, but possibly make use of already available standards (e.g. XML for certain file formats);
they must be easy to understand;
they should not represent a limitation to the implementation of new paradigms or an obstacle to innovation;

18. IEEE P2731 Unified Terminology for BCI - WG
WG Future Meetings’ Goals:
Start to address multidisciplinary related issues (different “visions”, etc..)
Define domains for P2731 (e.g. protocols, ethics, metrics, models, file formats, prosthetics, hardware, software, etc…)
Define own areas of expertise/interest/involvement (e.g. rehab, user, computer science, neurologists, caregiver, manufacturer, etc…)
Start to address the roadmap