Group-member selection for RSVP-based collaborative brain-computer interfaces

Abstract

ObjectiveThe brain-computer interface (BCI) systems based on rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) have been widely utilized for the detection of target and non-target images. Collaborative brain-computer interface (cBCI) effectively fuses electroencephalogram (EEG) data from multiple users to overcome the limitations of low single-user performance in single-trial event-related potential (ERP) detection in RSVP-based BCI systems. In a multi-user cBCI system, a superior group mode may lead to better collaborative performance and lower system cost. However, the key factors that enhance the collaboration capabilities of multiple users and how to further use these factors to optimize group mode remain unclear.ApproachThis study proposed a group-member selection strategy to optimize the group mode and improve the system performance for RSVP-based cBCI. In contrast to the conventional grouping of collaborators at random, the group-member selection strategy enabled pairing each user with a better collaborator and allowed tasks to be done with fewer collaborators. Initially, we introduced the maximum individual capability and maximum collaborative capability (MIMC) to select optimal pairs, improving the system classification performance. The sequential forward floating selection (SFFS) combined with MIMC then selected a sub-group, aiming to reduce the hardware and labor expenses in the cBCI system. Moreover, the hierarchical discriminant component analysis (HDCA) was used as a classifier for within-session conditions, and the Euclidean space data alignment (EA) was used to overcome the problem of inter-trial variability for cross-session analysis.Main resultsIn this paper, we verified the effectiveness of the proposed group-member selection strategy on a public RSVP-based cBCI dataset. For the two-user matching task, the proposed MIMC had a significantly higher AUC and TPR and lower FPR than the common random grouping mode and the potential group-member selection method. Moreover, the SFFS with MIMC enabled a trade-off between maintaining performance and reducing the number of system users.SignificanceThe results showed that our proposed MIMC effectively optimized the group mode, enhanced the classification performance in the two-user matching task, and could reduce the redundant information by selecting the sub-group in the RSVP-based multi-user cBCI systems.