xBCI : A Generic Platform for Development of an Online BCI System

A generic platform for realizing an online brain–computer interface (BCI) named xBCI was developed. The platform consists of several functional modules (components), such as data acquisition, storage, mathematical operations, signal processing, network communication, data visualization, experiment control, and real-time feedback presentation. Users can easily build their own BCI systems by combining the components on a graphical-user-interface (GUI) based diagram editor. They can also extend the platform by adding components as plug-ins or by creating components using a scripting language. The platform works on multiple operating systems and supports parallel (multi-threaded) data processing and data transfer to other PCs through a network transmission control protocol/internet protocol or user datagram protocol (TCP/IP or UDP). A BCI system based on motor imagery and a steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) based BCI system were constructed and tested on the platform. The results show that the platform is able to process multichannel brain signals in real time. The platform provides users with an easy-to-use system development tool and reduces the time needed to develop a BCI system. Copyright © 2010 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.