Preface (to: Towards Practical Brain-Computer Interfaces)

Brain–computer interface (BCI) research is advancing rapidly. The last few years have seen a dramatic rise in journal publications, academic workshops and conferences, books, new products aimed at both healthy and disabled users, research funding from different sources, and media attention. This media attention has included both BCI fi (BCI-based science fiction) and stories in mainstream magazines and television news programs. Despite this progress and attention, most people still do not use BCIs, or even know what they are. While the authors of this book generally have access to the best BCI equipment, and they know how to use it, the chapters are written in the oldfashioned way, with keyboards and mice instead of BCIs. This may be surprising because BCIs are generally presented inaccurately in the popular media, where undeserved hype and sloppy reporting often create a gap between expectations and reality. This book aims to bridge that gap by educating readers about BCIs, with emphasis on making BCIs practical in real-world settings. Experts in BCI research widely agree that one of the major challenges in the field is moving BCIs from laboratory gadgets that work with some healthy users to tools that are reliable, straightforward, and useful in field settings for whoever needs them. Many of these experts discuss the state of the art and major challenges across four sections. Three of the sections address the three main components of BCIs: sensors, signals, and signal processing; devices and applications; and interfaces and environments. The last section summarizes other challenges that relate to complete BCI systems instead of one component.