What can I do with Unicorn Hybrid Black?

A practical guide to conduct your Brain-Computer Interface and EEG experiments.

The Unicorn Hybrid Black is a powerful EEG headset on the market. Scientists, makers and developers can use it to create and build many brain-computer interface applications and experiments. But, what kind of BCI applications and experiments can be conducted with the Unicorn Hybrid Black? Let’s dig deeper into the world of the Unicorn Hybrid Black and its many research possibilities.

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The Unicorn Hybrid Black is a high-quality wearable EEG headset with 8 Unicorn Hybrid EEG electrodes to perfectly acquire brain waves. The headset allows you to record brain activity, dry or with gel, and therefore enables the usage for many different BCI applications.

Developers, artists and makers are able to acquire and process brain signals, ranging from the simple display of the signals, to the design and control of attached devices or to interact e.g. with artistic installations, toys, computer programs or applications.

So far, so good. Now, what can you do with Unicorn EEG headset? Let us pick some examples and explain how this was realized.

Smart Home Control with Arduino

Smart Homes can be controlled with your brain using a Unicorn Hybrid Black. It can be used to switch on a lamp or TV, turn on the popcorn maker or microwave. This is realized by connecting the Unicorn Hybrid Black to an Arduino board that controls power sockets. The Unicorn Speller is used as BCI application to mentally select icons on the screen and to send these commands to the Arduino board.

Additionally, it allows you to load custom control images into the graphical user interface. Then the images are flashing randomly on the screen and you will be able to select a specific command mentally.

Virtual/Augmented Reality Control for Unity Applications or VR Games

Use the Unicorn Speller to control Unity applications! In this case, control icons for the VR game or environment are loaded into the Speller and a UDP communication between the BCI Speller and the Unity environment is setup. This allows you to program computer games that are partially BCI controlled. With a BCI, you will get an additional control command besides to the computer keyboard or joystick.

Brain-Control Robots and Orthosis

Besides VR/AR applications, you can simply control devices, as explained in Smart Home Control. Sphero SPRK robot, e-puck robot, an orthosis, a game or a drone. You name it!

Other applications extract information from the brain to modulate music composition, to create painting from your dreams or to mix a Gin Tonic depending on your relaxation state. In neuroscience, brain activity can be extracted that is triggered by external events in order to understand behaviour or mental processing.

Visual Arts influenced by your brain

Many projects focus less on technical development and more on art, such as using BCIs to paint and creating new headsets. Some groups have used P300 BCIs to select and modify different art elements to create paintings on a monitor, projector or on paper.

Other groups have used 3D printers and sewing machines to make new headwear, sometimes with additional devices like cameras or lights. Some projects have developed different types of caps, while other designs used a visor, headband, or audio headphones.