Neuroergonomic Solutions in AR and VR Applications

Abstract

Although wearable sensors are omnipresent in consumer market nowadays, due to wearability and comfort issues they often avoid human head. Reliable and robust estimation of human cognitive states and traits, unfortunately, requires positioning electrodes at this sensitive location to capture electrical activity of the brain, eyes, and/or (facial) muscles. Novel augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) use cases provide a new area that could lower the acceptance threshold of users toward head-worn devices and open new application spaces. To foster this new trend, head-mounted solutions have to offer clear benefits to users and also provide convenience and wearing comfort. Two prototype solutions are discussed in more detail, an AR-enhanced glasses and a VR-compatible electroencephalography (EEG) headset, along with the methods used to assess and improve data quality such that reliable information on brain and eye activity can be extracted. Systems and methods are evaluated through large-scale user experiments during a music festival (Lowlands) in case of AR glasses and a simulated real-life scenario for VR EEG solution. Improvements achieved in ergonomics and signal integrity are clear over state of the art, however, further adaptations of the solutions toward final use case could lead to increased end-user benefits.