E=M6

Today we shot the EEGsynth in action for the science journal E=M6, a science-education show for children on Metropole Television. The program is a French cultural treasure, running for 25 years and having over 3 million weekly viewers! We are part of a series in which E=M6 explores electricity, centered around the (apparently popular) question on whether telekinesis really exists (I won’t spoil the answer). We were part of an explanation of EEG, in the lab of EEGsynther Dr. Guillaume Dumas and his colleague Aline Lefebvre, M.D., who showcased their advanced EEG setup for hyperscanning (measuring EEG of more than one person at the same time). In contrast to their laboratory-grade EEG, I recorded EEG with our open-hardware OpenBCI project, our own open-source software, connected to the small synthesizer setup you can see below:

EEG was recorded with a bipolar montage of electrodes attached to the front and back of the head. Alpha power (8-12Hz) was automatically calibrated over time (using our new historycontrol module, completed the night before) and controlled the output voltages of the Endorphin.es‘ Shuttle Control. The Disting Mk4 by Expert Sleepers was then used to add some slew to the signal (i.e. to smooth it) and was then patched into the waveform control of the Wavetable oscillator by Erica Synths. In short, our kind participant was then able to change the timbre of the sound with their attention. And yes, she certainly had moments when she felt in control of the sound, especially, as she put it so nicely: when she was in between total relaxation and concentration to the sound.

You can see the episode of February 18th online on the M6 website