This project was inspired by the paper: How about taking a low‐cost, small, and wireless EEG for a walk (Debener et al., 2012)?

I obtained two Emotiv Epoc wireless EEG devices in 2014. My goal was to gain the flexibility to conduct high quality EEG research out of the lab. I was encouraged by a growing body of research listed on the Emotiv website.  However, difficulty with the design of the product concerned me (see observations by Dr. Greg Siegle).

After some more research, I came across the Debener et al., 2012 article mentioned above.  In the article Debener and colleauges explain how they merged the Emotiv Epoc microprocessor with lab—grade EasyCap EEG electrodes, wires, and caps to create a low-cost customized portable EEG system usable for collecting high quality data out of the lab. In fact, they successfully collected data with participants walking around a track.

Intrigued I contacted Dr. Debener and asked him for instructions on converting the Emotiv Epoc device.  He sent me instructions created with EasyCap; I ordered the parts, hired someone with the skills to do the work (Joel S. Yang, PhD Associate Research Scientist, Developmental Neuroscience, Columbia University) and now have two exciting portable EEG systems to try out.  The evolution of this process is captured in the photos below. 

Yesterday I had a chance to try the systems out for the first time.  I was impressed by the quality of the equipment and the ease of use.  I successfully got a clean signal and my participant played a brain—computer interface (BCI) game provided with the Emotiv software package.  Some photos and a brief video are below.  I look forward to sharing updates with more details.