Interface, interaction, and intelligence in generalized brain-computer interfaces

Xiaorong Gao; Yijun Wang; Xiaogang Chen; Shangkai Gao

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2021.04.003

Interface, interaction, and intelligence in generalized brain-computer interfaces

Trends Cogn Sci. 2021 Aug;25(8):671-684. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.04.003. Epub 2021 Jun 8.

Authors

Xiaorong Gao¹, Yijun Wang², Xiaogang Chen³, Shangkai Gao⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
² Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
³ Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Tianjin, China.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: gsk-dea@tsinghua.edu.cn.

PMID: 34116918
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.04.003

Abstract

A brain-computer interface (BCI) establishes a direct communication channel between a brain and an external device. With recent advances in neurotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI), the brain signals in BCI communication have been advanced from sensation and perception to higher-level cognition activities. While the field of BCI has grown rapidly in the past decades, the core technologies and innovative ideas behind seemingly unrelated BCI systems have never been summarized from an evolutionary point of view. Here, we review various BCI paradigms and present an evolutionary model of generalized BCI technology which comprises three stages: interface, interaction, and intelligence (I3). We also highlight challenges, opportunities, and future perspectives in the development of new BCI technology.

Keywords: artificial intelligence (AI); channel capacity; human augmentation; human intelligence (HI).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Artificial Intelligence
Brain
Brain-Computer Interfaces*
Electroencephalography
Intelligence
User-Computer Interface