Visualizing Emotion and Absorption Through a Low Resolution LED Array : From Electroencephalography to Internet of Things

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a popular method for detecting and recording electrical activity in the human brain. Using this method, we can explore the relationships between specific brain activities and certain mental states. Even though neuroscience measurements are reliable and useful, the specific methods are not quite popular within human-computer interaction (HCI) research and practice, since traditional devices for neurophysiological data acquisition are professional knowledge dependent and expensive. The emergence of inexpensive, off-the-shelf wireless EEG devices encourages researchers and designers to probe the new perspective of HCI. In this paper, we present a pilot study which attempts to connect the EEG data obtained by a wireless EEG device (i.e., Emotiv EPOC plus) to an electronic device (i.e., a Particle-based 8*8*8 LED array) enabled by the infrastructure of the Internet of Things (IoT). Specifically, this study visualizes the two general types of human emotions and the human absorptive state on the LED array through multidimensional display patterns. We hope this study can be regarded as the pilot for the brain-computer interface building with commercial EEG products and electronic devices enabled by IoT. Furthermore, the study can also serve as reference for creative scientific visualization of human mental states with physical electronic devices.