PhD Study : Context aware Brain Computer Interfaces and Internet of Things (IoT)

Summary

Brain Computer Interface (BCI) (Brunner et al, 2015) offers interaction and communication using thought processes without the need for explicit physical manipulation, giving rise to a powerful assistive technology. Within the BCI research community there have been significant technical advancements in terms of the signal processing, electrodes, and applications. However, a truly robust BCI is still elusive and techniques used need to be matched and tailored to the user. Zander & Jatzev (2012) highlight the differences in environment between the BCI computer laboratory, clinical and home settings for BCI use and point to a context aware system as a possible solution.

The following issues may influence operation of the BCI:

1. Understanding the environment through IoT sensing to attain better BCI control of smart devices, e.g. using proximity together with a BCI command to actuate a device. For example, ‘dim the nearest light bulb’, ‘close the curtains’.

2. Building an ontology that reflects IoT environment and BCI user state. The ontology can share understanding of the structure of information among people or software agents (Protégé).

3. Sharing autonomy between the user of the BCI and smart devices to determine the context of a task and hence provide improved actuation (Coogan & He, 2018, Zhang et al, 2019).

4. Using passive (affective) BCI components to provide context for human performance: How the user is feeling or how long they have been using the BCI? (Zander & Kothe, 2011).

Robustness and fitness for purpose degrades over time. With online adaptation on-going parameters extracted from the EEG and the session are used to provide updates to the classifier. Such systems may be able to respond to some transient and temporal conditions within the EEG and this calibration may quickly become outdated due external and physical factors. The objective of this PhD is to determine and use factors, input modalities and smart devices to help in the continual re-adjustment of the BCI system to best meet the tasks, needs and characteristics of the user.

References;

Clemens Brunner, Niels Birbaumer, Benjamin Blankertz et al (2015) BNCI Horizon 2020: towards a roadmap for the BCI community, Brain-Computer Interfaces, 2:1, 1-10C.

G. Coogan and B. He, "Brain-Computer Interface Control in a Virtual Reality Environment and Applications for the Internet of Things," in IEEE Access, vol. 6, pp. 10840-10849Protégé, https://protege.stanford.edu/publications/ontology_development/ontology101-noy-mcguinness.html

Zander T.O., Kothe C. Towards passive brain-computer interfaces: applying brain-computer interface technology to human-machine systems in general. J Neural Eng, 8:025005, 2011

Zander, T.O., Jatzev, S. & (2012). Context-aware brain-computer interfaces: exploring the information space of user, technical system and environment. J Neural Eng. 2012 Feb;9(1):016003. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22156069X.

Zhang, L. Yao, S. Zhang, S. Kanhere, M. Sheng and Y. Liu, "Internet of Things Meets Brain–Computer Interface: A Unified Deep Learning Framework for Enabling Human-Thing Cognitive Interactivity," in IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 2084-2092, April 2019.

Essential criteria

Applicants should hold, or expect to obtain, a First or Upper Second Class Honours Degree in a subject relevant to the proposed area of study.

We may also consider applications from those who hold equivalent qualifications, for example, a Lower Second Class Honours Degree plus a Master’s Degree with Distinction.

In exceptional circumstances, the University may consider a portfolio of evidence from applicants who have appropriate professional experience which is equivalent to the learning outcomes of an Honours degree in lieu of academic qualifications.

• Sound understanding of subject area as evidenced by a comprehensive research proposal

Desirable Criteria

If the University receives a large number of applicants for the project, the following desirable criteria may be applied to shortlist applicants for interview.

• Publications record appropriate to career stage
• A comprehensive and articulate personal statement
• Applicants will be shortlisted if they have an average of 75% or greater in a first (honours) degree (or a GPA of 8.75/10). For applicants with a first degree average in the range of 70% to 74% (GPA 3.3): If they are undertaking an Masters, then the average of their first degree marks and their Masters marks will be used for shortlisting.

Funding and eligibility

The University offers the following levels of support:

Vice Chancellors Research Studentship (VCRS)

The following scholarship options are available to applicants worldwide:

• Full Award: (full-time tuition fees + £19,000 (tbc))
• Part Award: (full-time tuition fees + £9,500)
• Fees Only Award: (full-time tuition fees)

These scholarships will cover full-time PhD tuition fees for three years (subject to satisfactory academic performance) and will provide a £900 per annum research training support grant (RTSG) to help support the PhD researcher.

Applicants who already hold a doctoral degree or who have been registered on a programme of research leading to the award of a doctoral degree on a full-time basis for more than one year (or part-time equivalent) are NOT eligible to apply for an award.

Please note: you will automatically be entered into the competition for the Full Award, unless you state otherwise in your application.

Department for the Economy (DFE)

The scholarship will cover tuition fees at the Home rate and a maintenance allowance of £19,000 (tbc) per annum for three years (subject to satisfactory academic performance).

This scholarship also comes with £900 per annum for three years as a research training support grant (RTSG) allocation to help support the PhD researcher.

• Candidates with pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, who also satisfy a three year residency requirement in the UK prior to the start of the course for which a Studentship is held MAY receive a Studentship covering fees and maintenance.
• Republic of Ireland (ROI) nationals who satisfy three years’ residency in the UK prior to the start of the course MAY receive a Studentship covering fees and maintenance (ROI nationals don’t need to have pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to qualify).
• Other non-ROI EU applicants are ‘International’ are not eligible for this source of funding.
• Applicants who already hold a doctoral degree or who have been registered on a programme of research leading to the award of a doctoral degree on a full-time basis for more than one year (or part-time equivalent) are NOT eligible to apply for an award.

Due consideration should be given to financing your studies. Further information on cost of living