Zichen Zhang
Pronouns: he/him
Research Mentor(s): Jane Huggins
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation / Medicine
Program: UROPF
Session: Session 5 (2:40pm – 3:30pm)
Authors: Zichen Zhang, Mariska Vansteensel, Betts Peters, Jane Huggins
Abstract
Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) allow a human brain and an external device to exchange signals. As the BCI field matures, the implementation of BCIs for people with significant motor disability often reveals unexpected factors affecting system performance and user satisfaction. These factors can be intrinsic (related to some characteristic of the user, such as disease etiology) or extrinsic (environmental factors, such as time of day). This study is planned to find out BCI researchers’ opinions on these factors based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework. Implemented using Qualtrics, this study plans to survey members of the BCI community on the reporting of 19 ICF categories of intrinsic and extrinsic factors in their use of BCIs by recording (1) the demographic information on BCI researchers, (2) the general information on their research participants, and (3) researchers’ opinions on their top 5 most important ICF categories of extrinsic and intrinsic factors in terms of the effects they may have on BCI performance and user satisfaction. Our findings are still undetermined because we are still in the process of distributing the survey and collecting data. The Qualtrics survey was subjected to two testing processes. Firstly, research members tested the survey on different devices to ensure its functionality and user-friendliness. Secondly, the survey was proposed for distribution to all members in the Direct Brain Interface Laboratory for testing. Following successful testing, the survey will be ready for public distribution. In the end, our conclusion will help the BCI community reach consensus about which factors are the most important and assist them in capturing and reporting in a consistent manner.
