Brainwaves Communication System for People with Reduced Mobility and Verbal Impairment

The development of capture brain activity sensors has made it possible to develop applications that allow interaction with people and objects only by using the level of concentration on a given action; this represents an opportunity for people with total or partial reduction of mobility in their limbs as well as the ability to speak, since they have difficulty communicating with others and require specialized assistance to identify and meet their basic needs. Brain activity signals constitute a communication tool, improving independence and quality of life not only for people with this condition but also opens up a wide variety of applications for people in general. In this research, a communication system based on brain waves is developed with the use of the Emotiv Insight sensor, in combination with the Emotiv Xavier Controlpanel and Emotiv Xavier EmoKey programs, to translate and send the brain waves via Bluetooth to a graphic interface in Matlab, where the need is visually identified. The system has remote communication through a mobile application that favors the prompt attention of needs and emergency situations. The evaluation of the system has 93.6% effectiveness in recognizing the patient’s need, with an average response time of 4[s] to activate the HMI indicator, the message in the mobile device arrives immediately when it is in the same wifi network, and takes approximately 2[s] in a different network, demonstrating that it is possible to establish basic communication between patient and caregiver, through brain waves.