Hackaday · Creativity & design

Appliance Control Via Biopotentials

Upside Down Labs has developed a device, the Neuro PlayGround Lite (NPG Lite), capable of sensing biopotentials to control appliances, though not in a strict science fiction sense.

The NPG Lite functions as a 3-channel instrumentation amplifier, ADC, and ESP32-C6 radio, designed for measuring small biological voltages. This hardware can be adapted for EEG, EMG, ECG, or EOG by changing electrode placement and signal processing.

While EEG measurement is possible, controlling EEG output for practical application is challenging. EMG for muscle signals or EOG for blinking are considered more feasible methods for user interface control.

The core value of the NPG Lite lies in its instrumentation amplifier, necessary for accurately reading weak biosignals, which cannot be directly connected to an ESP-32 analog input. The accompanying software also plays a significant role in signal processing.

Once reliable indicators of muscle or eye movement are detected, controlling an appliance, such as changing TV channels via an IR transceiver, becomes straightforward.

The developers acknowledge that attaching sensors for casual use may be inconvenient but recognize the potential for biosignal-based user interfaces in various applications, including ordering drinks and gaming.

AI-samenvatting op basis van de bron.