Next year we will be focusing on improving the conditions for artistic development in 1+1=3. After years of experience in developing performances, improving the software and documentation, and creating new concepts together, we are now launching EEGsynth artistic laboratories. We have come to realize the importance of such artistic laboratories, as they allow us all to develop new aspects to our art and science, from video to sound, from digital to analogue, from performance to production. For the artistic development we have been somewhat constrained by the time we can spend together in preparatory workshops and residencies. However, the growing complexity of our performance, and the increased ambition of our projects, require us all to be able to spend more time being ‘intimate’ with our neurofeedback setup.
As we developed the software and the patches more and more, the biggest obstacle increasingly became the hardware. We only had a couple of OpenBCI EEG setups. Moreover, out of the box they are finicky, their 3D printed cases always falling open, batteries and plugs and cables and connectors always at the point of bending or breaking, and generally just creating a confusing mess requiring too much care, especially when you are setting up or in the middle of a performance.
We are very happy to say that this now all behind us (and you). After several iterations, Robert has now created robust 3D printed enclosures for the OpenBCI boards, including robust touch-proof connectors for the electrodes (saving those little board connectors from ever bending again), a LiPo battery, including a build-in charger (saving us the hassle of dis/reconnecting those batteries and charging them with those little USB chargers), with LED indicator and power/reset button (saving us the hassle of fiddling with that little switch buried within the head-box enclosures during performances). It will also makes it much easier to document and maintain clear reference schemes, and the overview is much improved thanks to color-codes touch-proof connectors. As the cherry on top, the enclosures also sport our EEGsynth logo! As always, the design is open source, and can be found on Robert’s website.
We invested into several OpenBCI Ganglion boards. These have 4 bipolar channels, and are perfectly suited for using combinations of EEG/EOG/EMG/ECG. Robert and I will keep developing for the 8-channel OpenBCI Cyton boards, as we will be using more multi-channel EEG in future performances. You can identify the different enclosures by the colors of their touch-proof connectors.
Robert will be bringing the new enclosures and boards to Paris next week, when we meet for the MEG/EEG workshop at ICM, and they will find their way to Jean-Louis, Per and Samon from there. At that point we will have 5 EEGsynth laboratories: Nijmegen, Paris (x2), Copenhagen and what I imagine will be a mobile lab in Per’s suitcase! This is an exciting time for us, because its a big step towards the ultimate goal of the EEGsynth project: to develop together a sophisticated, creative, low-cost, open-source tool for artists to use EEG in their art.
2 replies on “EEGsynth labs are sprouting”
Regards. I am writing from Colombia, South America, Please inform me if the technology developed (hardware and software) by your laboratory is available to be able to buy it. I am very interested in knowing how it works to convert EEG brain waves into sounds or music in real time, what is the EEG hardware, what is the price and payment method. I am a psychologist and my interest is focused on using it in therapeutic processes to manage anxiety, depression and withdrawal symptoms, block appetite for consumption and so on, in cases of consumption of psychoactive substances (drug addiction). I will be very pleased to receive your response. Thank you.
Dear Nelson,
We are not selling any of the hardware or software that we develop, but rather make it all available so that other people (with the right skills) can build and/or experiment with it themselves. The hardware that we use and the EEGsynth software are not clinical tools. The software is based on Python and requires familiarity with the command-line.
To record the signals we mostly work with OpenBCI boards; right now I would recommend the Ganglion board. The Bitalino boards are an alternative. Both of these can be purchased online, see the respective links. For the 3-D printed OpenBCI enclosure you might be able to find a local 3-D printing company. But some knowledge of electronics and soldering is still required.
best regards,
Robert