Calls for Submissions
Call for Projects: Grants of up to 150K€ of equipment for research projects in the areas of human behavior research and brain-computer interfaces (Bitbrain)
Aim of the Call
This year has been unexpectedly complicated for all of us. We have had an ongoing threat to public health with a strong impact on economic activity in every country and organization. Scientific endeavors have been delayed in most research fields, and many research conferences and symposiums have been delayed or canceled. The aim of this call is to catalyze and mobilize research in human behavior and brain-computer interfaces during this difficult time, by supporting outstanding research projects for 2 years of duration starting in 2021. This is our way of giving back to the scientific community and helping research projects start-up in the wake of COVID 19. Bitbrain’s mission is to boost real-world research and real-life applications that enhance people’s lives. For this reason, we particularly welcome project proposals from academia or research institutions that are exploring neuroscience research in real-world settings.
The deadline for submissions is September 21st, 2020.
More info here: https://www.bitbrain.com/call-for-projects-2020
The Awards
This initiative awards projects with up to a total of 150K€ in Bitbrain equipment plus software licenses. Bitbrain systems are specifically designed to facilitate research in real-world settings and include high-tech EEG brain sensing devices and 35+ complementary monitoring technologies, as well as human behavior research software solutions for synchronized multimodal data acquisition and analysis.
Call topics
– Topic 1: Human Behavior Research: We are looking for projects that expand the understanding of human behavior using multimodal approaches, preferably in ecological and natural conditions. The research includes, but is not limited to, cognitive sciences, clinical research, education, developmental psychology, human performance, UX or human factors, neuroeconomics, hyperscanning, neuroaesthetics, etc.
Awards: According to the research needs of the project, the award may include the following: 1) Hardware: dry/semi-dry EEG systems in combination with a wide range of biosensors (GSR, BVP, ExG, etc) specifically developed to carry out real-world research, while favoring signal quality, usability, set up time, and user comfort. 2) Software: SDK for real-time I/O and third-party data processing (LSL, Matlab, Python, BCI200, etc); SennsLab software for synchronized data collection of 35+ types of biosensors and other research modalities including eye-tracking, cameras, microphones, etc, and other 3rd party options such as E-prime; SennsMetrics software for computation and data analysis of behavioral metrics.
– Topic 2: Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI): We are looking for projects that expand the introduction or usage of brain-computer interfaces in ecological and natural conditions.
Research project proposals should focus on the application of brain-computer interfaces in real-world scenarios, in areas such as immersive environments, neurorehabilitation, neuroadaptive technologies, hyperscanning, neuroprosthetics, etc.
Awards: According to the research needs of the project, the award may include the following: 1) Hardware: Mobile EEG systems for brain-computer interfaces including dry-EEG devices and semi-dry EEG systems (8, 16, 32 and 64ch), with a very quick and easy setup and comfortable interface. 2) Software: programming tools with great compatibility with real-time I/O and third-party data processing (LSL, Matlab, Python, BCI2000, OpenVibe, etc).
Jury
– Dima Amso, PhD. Professor, Department of Psychology at Columbia University.
– Alan Kingstone, PhD. Professor, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia.
– Ander Ramos, PhD. Head of the Neurorehabilitation Lab. University of Tubingen. Germany
– Gernot Muller-Putz, PhD. Professor and Head of the Institute of Neural Engineering. Graz University of Technology. Austria
– Tiago Falk, PhD. Associate Professor and Multimedia/Multimodal Signal Analysis and Enhancement (MuSAE) Laboratory. University of Toronto. Canada
– Marco Congedo, PhD. Charge de Research (CNRS), France.
Important Dates
– Submission of applications: 21st September
– Communication of the awards: 6th October
– Contracts: 12th October
– Equipment delivering: 20th December
– Kick-off Meetings: 11th January
More info here: https://www.bitbrain.com/call-for-projects-2020
CfP: Frontiers Research Topic on “Brain-Computer Interfaces for Non-clinical Applications”
CfP: Frontiers Research Topic on “Brain-Computer Interfaces for Non-clinical (Home, Sports, Art, Entertainment, Education, Well-being) Applications”
Deadlines:
31 August 2020: Abstract
18 December 2020: Full paper
Topics that will be addressed in this Research Topic are:
– Affective BCI in domestic, art and entertainment environments;
– BCI environments for self-reflection, empathizing, and therapy;
– Agency in interactive BCI applications;
– Multi-brain and multimodal interaction in game and artistic environments;
– BCI control of instruments and tools for domestic, entertainment, sports, educational, and artistic applications
– BCI for Augmented and Virtual Reality, for Serious Games, and rehabilitation;
– The impact of BCI Hackathons on research and applications
Guest-editors
Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
Camille Jeunet, CLLE Lab, Univ. Toulouse Jean Jaurès, CNRS, Toulouse, France
Anton Nijholt, University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands
Aleksander Väljamäe, School of Digital Technologies at Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia
Learn More About this Research Topic
In this decade Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology has entered mainstream human-computer interaction (HCI) research for non-clinical applications. BCI has become part of multimodal interaction research as an additional interaction modality for a user of a technological system. BCI has also become part of research in which neurophysiological data provides a system with information about a user’s affective and mental state, making it possible to adapt system, task, and interaction to a particular user, online. Currently, there is a market for inexpensive electroencephalographic (EEG) devices and software kits that capture voluntarily and involuntarily evoked brain activity and allow this activity to be translated into control and communication commands for environments and devices.
HCI researchers’ interest in BCI is increasing because the technology industry is expanding into application areas where efficiency is not the main goal of concern. Domestic or public space use of information and communication technology raise awareness of the importance of affect, comfort, family, community, or playfulness, rather than efficiency. Therefore, in addition to non-clinical BCI applications that require efficiency and precision, this Research Topic also addresses the use of BCI for various types of domestic, entertainment, educational, sports, and well-being applications. These applications can relate to an individual user as well as to multiple cooperating or competing users. We also see a renewed interest of artists to make use of such devices to design interactive art installations that know about the brain activity of an individual user or the collective brain activity of a group of users, for example, an audience. Hence, this Research Topic also addresses how BCI technology influences artistic creation and practice, and the use of BCI technology to manipulate and control sound, video, and virtual and augmented reality.