Electroencephalography (EEG)
From EuroVR Knowledge Base
Description
An electroencephalograph is a device which amplifies and records electrical activity from the scalp using a number of small electrodes which are temporarily adhered to the scalp. EEG can be used to assess strain, mental workload and alertness. EEG has been suggested to study presence from a cognitive (Pugnetti, Mendozzi, Barberi, Rose, & Attree, 1996) or emotional (Huang and Alessi 1999) perspective. Schlögl, Slater, & Pfurtscheller (2002) suggest that EEG could be used to enhance the “breaks in presence” technique. The measurement of brain electrical activity using EEG provides a non-invasive technique to directly measure brain function and make inferences about regional brain activity. EEG is the most commonly used measure to describe differences between various awake states (Lal and Craig 2002) and between wakefulness and sleep. The link between behavioural/performance changes and the EEG spectrum is strong enough to enable EEG spectral analysis to be used as a direct indicator of arousal level.(Makeig et al. 2000). In order to analyse vigilance and alertness information during performance in VEs, EEG analysis relies on two branches: A visual score based on simultaneous examination of EEG pattern (theta, alpha, and beta), eye blinks and eye ball movements and numerical analysis (e.g. spectral analysis).
Primary Reference or Source
- Mager, R., Stoermer, R., Schaerli, H., Estoppey, K.H., Bullinger, A.H., Patel, H., Stedmon, A., Nichols, S.C., D’Cruz, M. (2003). Usability test-battery manual. Deliverable for the European Commission, IST Project VIEW of the Future, IST-2000-26089;
- Schlögl, A., Slater, M., & Pfurtscheller, G. (2002). Presence Research and EEG. In Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Presence. Porto, Portugal, October 9-11 2002.
