Dear Members

Recently 2 NYC-based Artist/Engineers, Joel Murphy and Conor Russomanno, launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund an open-source brain-computer interface (BCI) platform called OpenBCI. 2 weeks ago they presented a mini-lecture about OpenBCI and the current state of commercial and DIY BCIs at a Volumetric Society event. They are now approaching the second half of their Kickstarter campaign and continuing to do community outreach to spread the word about their movement to crowd-source brain research and innovation. If you're interested BCI or know people that are you should check this out and/or pass it along!

What Is OpenBCI?

OpenBCI is a low-cost, programmable, open-source EEG platform that gives anybody with a computer access to their brainwaves. Our vision is to realize the potential of the open-source movement to accelerate innovation in brain science through collaborative hardware and software development. Behind the many lines of code and circuit diagrams, OpenBCI has a growing community of scientists, engineers, designers, makers, and a whole bunch of other people who are interested in furthering our understanding of the brain. We feel that the biggest challenges in understanding what makes us who we are cannot be solved by a company, an institution, or even an entire field of science. Rather, we believe these discoveries will be made through an open forum of shared knowledge and concerted effort by people from many different disciplines.

What Makes OpenBCI Different?

Today, the leading brain-computer interface companies distribute fixed devices with limited or closed access to the algorithms that translate raw EEG signals to meaningful data. These devices are powerful and effective for application development but not ideal for R&D requiring adjustable hardware setups and direct control over the signal processing techniques. OpenBCI is fully accessible and powered by an open-source community of hardware and software builders, making it easy for creators of any skill level and ideal for researchers who haven’t yet settled on the perfect system design. The OpenBCI platform is intended to serve as a malleable starting point in the rapidly growing field of brain-computer interfacing.

If you'd like to know more about OpenBCI, be sure to check out the Kickstarter page and visit the websit to learn more about OpenBCI's past hackathons and presence at the 2013 NYC Maker Faire.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/openbci/openbci-an-open-source-brain-computer-interface-fo

Best,

Ellen Pearlman

Director and Curator

Volumetric Society of NYC

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