The Mind-Writing Pupil: A Human-Computer Interface Based on Decoding of Covert Attention through Pupillometry

PLoS One. 2016 Feb 5;11(2):e0148805. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148805. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

We present a new human-computer interface that is based on decoding of attention through pupillometry. Our method builds on the recent finding that covert visual attention affects the pupillary light response: Your pupil constricts when you covertly (without looking at it) attend to a bright, compared to a dark, stimulus. In our method, participants covertly attend to one of several letters with oscillating brightness. Pupil size reflects the brightness of the selected letter, which allows us-with high accuracy and in real time-to determine which letter the participant intends to select. The performance of our method is comparable to the best covert-attention brain-computer interfaces to date, and has several advantages: no movement other than pupil-size change is required; no physical contact is required (i.e. no electrodes); it is easy to use; and it is reliable. Potential applications include: communication with totally locked-in patients, training of sustained attention, and ultra-secure password input.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Attention
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Pupil*
  • Reflex, Pupillary
  • User-Computer Interface*
  • Visual Perception

Grants and funding

The research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement n° 622738 awarded to Sebastiaan Mathôt (http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/187709_en.html). In addition, this research was funded by a VIDI Grant 452-13-008 from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research to Stefan Van der Stigchel (http://www.nwo.nl/en/research-and-results/programmes/Talent+Scheme/awards/vidi+awards/vidi+awards+2013). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.