Progress Report 12/18/14

Brainwave Team: Ryan W. and Andes D.

Progress: This week, we researched the visual library of OpenVibe by reading up on and watching videos explaining the functions of each function. The OpenVibe Designer works by fetching data from the Acquisition Server.The Acquisition Server has a set of different drivers that are specific to different EEG monitors. The drivers are designed specifically to reduce the maximum amount of noise for the recording device. The video taught us how to build an example program that could convert raw data from time domain to frequency domain. This week, I was not only researching the pathways needed to generate a .CSV file from the data, which could produce tangible numerical data, but also I was researching the tools I could use to make communication between data and application real time.

Problems & Plans: I found the functions necessary to make this idea work but I still need to find a method to link it all together- right now it’s like pieces to a puzzle, I just need to find a way to fit all the pieces together correctly to make the program cohesive.

App Team: Esteban C. and Sebastian C.

Progress: We are actively modifying the sample application that we have. We've learned the general structure of the app. Specifically, and most importantly, we know where the app controls its raw data. We've also identified where the app creates a table, so we’ll be able to cut out the data that we don’t need. Other things we've done is connect our app to an iPhone and run it, re familiarize ourselves with xcode, and continuing to isolate different components of the app to see how they work.

Problems & Plans: The most recent problem that we encountered was a foreign command in xcode called “synthesize” Instead of using a storyboard, like we learned last year, the app synthesizes the images on the screen and doesn't use the typical way. This will make the learning curve deeper, but we believe that it shouldn't be too big of a problem. We've started looking into this problem in order to either convert the app into an app that uses a storyboard or learn this new command.

Progress Report 12/11/14

Progress:

Brain Research Team

• We decided to go with OpenVibe as our method of obtaining raw data after finding a PC that ran on Windows 7. Now we do not have to buy MyndPlay Pro, which was our alternative. 

• We were able to install OpenVibe and successfully connect MindWave with it.

• Using OpenVibe tutorials, we finally obtained raw data after many weeks! 

Video Tutorials:

1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poX_DVB711o

2) http://openvibe.inria.fr/openvibe-video-tutorial-english/

Application Team

• Downloaded developer tool software to make a simple App. 

• Simple decision-making app that runs on the premiss of "if... then" 

• Inspiration: 

Problem:

Brain Wave Team

• We do not know how to read the raw data from OpenVibe.

• We don't know how to process the raw data from OpenVibe in order to use code 

• We don't know how to use the raw data so that it feeds into the program real time 

Application Team

• We are looking in the code how to extract receiving data. 

• We're figuring out the different commands specific for the mind wave application

Plan:

• Ryan and Andres: We are going to continue researching OpenVibe in order to obtain different types of raw data. We are also going to find a way to process the raw data that we already have. We want to be able to understand and use the raw data in order to incorporate that into our application. 

• Esteban and Sebastian: We're going to extract the raw data from the current application and create a simple application using this data. 

Progress Report 12/4/13

Progress:

• We've done more extensive research on how to obtain raw data. Right now, we have three different methods that are compatible with MindWave and are possible candidates. These include: OpenVibe, Brainwave Visualizer, and MyndPlay Pro. 

• OpenVibe: A brain-computer interference that enables commands or messages to be sent to computers by means of brain activity. 
• Processes brain signals: it can be used to acquire, filter, process, classify, and visualize brain signals in real time. 
• Pros: Free, easy to use, includes frequency domain
• Cons: Requires Windows 7
• Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAvkr1z8ah4

• Brainwave Visualizer: Just recently we found out that the software that came with MindWave, which we have been using for a while now, is actually capable of recording raw data. We first discovered this by finding out that it can give us numerical data. 
• Pros: Free, provides analysis of EEG data, gives information on different types of waves (Beta, Gamma, Alpha)
• Cons: In order to record real-time brain wave data, we have to use Itunes.

• MyndPlay Pro: Is an all in one EEG neurofeedback recording, reporting, and analysis software tool. It includes a media player so that you can watch any video and record/view your brain reactions in real-time. 
• Pros: records real-time raw data at a sampling rate of 512 Hz, records all types of data waves, includes a real-time live feed activity screen, and saves your brainwave data.
•  Cons: Expensive ($100), and not enough research has been done on the app. 

Problem:

• We do not know which of these software tools to use. All are possible candidates, but we have yet to find one that exceeds our expectations. 
• The problem with OpenVibe is that the software is old and therefore we cannot use it on Ryan's computer. 
• The problem with Brainwave Visualizer is that we have not yet recorded any data using it and do not know if it actually works. 
• The problem with MyndPlay Pro is that it is very expensive. 
• We now know that putting the sensor from MindWave on the forehead isn't that reliable because a lot of the waves that are calculated come from the movement of the muscles in the forehead. 

Plan: 

• Esteban and I: Continue to do more research on Myndplay Pro and Brainwave Visualizer. If we can obtain actual data from Brainwave Visualizer using Itunes then we will most likely use that software. If not, then we will most likely go with Myndplay Pro. 
• Ryan and Sebastian: Continue doing research on brain waves. They will also will find out if we can use OpenVibe.

Progress Report: 11/13/14 (Injecting Biofeedback into Different Fields)

Problem: We want to place our knowledge in Biofeedback in an industry more viable than video games.

Progress Report: This week we discovered that in order to record the data, we needed to download a third party application to export data EEG data to an excel file. With the application it is possible to directly record and export the raw data to an excel file through by writing code, but for the sake of time, we believe that it is most efficient to use an application to record the data.

http://store.neurosky.com/products/labview-drivers

Essentially, the third party application is not really an application but a series of driver that have a set of codes that that will be able to record and save raw EEG data. We think extracting the raw EEG data is important because it segregates into many different applications. We initially believed in divulging into the field of video games with Helena around with her expertise on video gaming, but now that she’s not here anymore, we decided to adjust our human resources. With new additions to our team, Esteban and Sebastian, we decided to confer with him to find out what they are especially good at. Sebastian has specialties in the neurosciences- he recently took neuroscience class at Hunter College over the summer. He is working with Ryan to analyze the raw data. Esteban and Andres are going to work on the actual application. As of right now, we don’t exactly know how to drive the project further, but we are discussing where we can bring the biofeedback area to because creating a video game is not viable as an application.  We believe that doing a video game is not viable because of our lack of knowledge in video games and the lack of interest in the whole community. The video game community is not wide-spread and not everyone plays video games, which is why we decided to take biofeedback elsewhere. 

Solution: The group needs to talk it out and decide what we want to invest our time into; meanwhile, Sebastian and Ryan will research the analysis of raw EEG data (conversion of quantitative data to qualitative data)

Dates:

Meeting with Mr. Lin: 11/14/14

Decide on an outlet for Biofeedback input 11/17/14

Meeting with Mr. Lin: 11/18/14

Progress Report 11/5/14

Progress: 
This week has been very important to the development of our project. Last week we lost Helana because she had to leave school, but this week we were able to add Esteban and Sebastian to our team. By having more people working on this project, we'll be able to cover more in a shorter period of time. Now we can divide the work evenly so that we can be working in parallel. While Esteban and Ryan work on the biofeedback aspect of the game,  Sebastian and I can work on the video game itself. This is important because Ryan and I kept going back and forth between biofeedback and the video game and it felt like nothing was being accomplished. Now we have our definite roles and can finally make more progress. We have decided this week that we will still develop a video game that incorporates biofeedback to show that biofeedback is actually effective. However, we still know that there is a whole industry for biofeedback that we can explore after we finish our video game.

In other news, Ryan downloaded the application to record the data and is testing it out with Esteban.
I have shown Sebastian the tutorials for Maya so that he can understand how it works.

Problem:
We have covered quite a lot during the past few months and we're going to have to catch Esteban and Sebastian up with everything. Ryan is going to have to explain to Esteban how MindWave works, while I'm going to have to explain to Sebastian the plan for the game, including the gameplay, the setting, and the characters. It's going to take a while catching them up with everything.

Solution:
I am going to show Sebastian all of the tutorials and explain to him what we want the game to look like and how we plan on adding biofeedback into the gameplay. Ryan will demonstrate how biofeedback works to Esteban by showing him the apps that MindWave came with.

Progress Report 10/30/14

Progress: 
This week Ryan and I have been focusing more on learning how to use MindWave because it has arrived and it is essential for our video game. To do this, we have been testing out apps run with MindWave. Right now we have only tested three apps. One app helps us learn how to control our attention. It does this by making us burn a barrel with the value of our attention. The more attention we are putting on the barrel the more it burns. The other app helps us control our meditation by making a ball float higher and higher as you start to relax your mind.  The last app includes a set of math problems that we have to solve in a short period of time. This game helps us in both aspects of meditation and attention because we cannot let the time limit intimidate us, and the same time we have to be attentive in order to solve the problems.

We have also learned how to read the values for meditation and attention. When the value for meditation and attention increases that means that we are more calm and attentive. We've noticed that for the most part, meditation and attention are inversely proportional. This means that as one of them increases, the other decreases. It is very difficult to be both calm and attentive, but that is why we use the third app that includes the set of math problems.

Problem:
Helana has officially transferred out of ELRO and is being homeschooled so we cannot count on her for this project. Another problem that we have is that we do not know how to interpret raw data. We also do not know how to record the data straight from MindWave.

Plan: 
We plan to find a data recoding method. After finding a method, we want to record data from students in the STEM class under a mental stimuli that is kept constant. We hope that this data will further our understanding of how the brain responds to certain conditions. With that in mind, we hope to use the conclusions analysed from this information to develop a game that is more realistic.

In parallel, we have to keep watching tutorials on Maya and Java because we cannot just forget about that aspect of the game.

Progress Report 10/23/14

Progress: 
This week Ryan and I have been watching more video tutorials on Java and Maya. We are spending a lot of time doing this because those are the two main components to creating our video game. Aside from the videos, we've been thinking about ways to use biofeedback. From our research, we learned that there are few patents for biofeedback. Because of this, we know that there is a large and broad field for biofeedback that needs to be filled in. We do not want to limit ourselves to just biofeedback in video games, even though that is our priority at the moment. We want to create an entire industry where biofeedback can be used in many different/innovative ways. For example, those who are in wheel chairs cannot drive a car. Using biofeedback, we could enable those who are paralyzed to drive a car through their brain activity. The picture provided below explains what we want to do.

Also, MindWave arrived, so we hope to start programming it by next week.

Problem:
Helana has been feeling ill and has not been in school for a whole week. If she does not come this upcoming week, then we will be at a great disadvantage because she is the one who knows how to code the most. She was supposed to teach us how to use Java and Maya.

Plan: 
Because we cannot count on Helana at this moment, we're going to have to start taking on her role of the project. Both Ryan and I will have to learn how to code along with our designated task. This means that I have to keep learning about Maya and Ryan has to keep learning about Java.

Progress Report 10/16/14

Problem: 
Missing Patents and the skills/programs required to make the game.

Solution:
This week was very important for us because we started learning the skills that are essential for the creation of our game. For example, I have started watching tutorials on how to use Maya, a program that is used for 3D animation. This is very essential because our video game is going to need animations. While watching a video tutorial on youtube I found out that there is a free student version that is fairly similar to the full version of Maya. Right now I am taking things slowly, so I have only learned the basics (I have yet to actually create anything). Ryan and Helana started watching Java tutorials. Learning about Java is an important aspect to our project because it helps us program our game. To use Java, we downloaded NetBeans. The reason we focused on the skillful aspects of the project this week is because we are currently waiting for our MindWave order to arrive.

Maya Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZxQPVjGOrY

Java Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBWX97e1E9

This week we also started finding patents for MindWave/Biofeedback in Video Games. Some patents that we found include:

• http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=26&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=(%22463%22%2F36.CCLS.)&OS=CCL/%22463%22/36&RS=CCL/%22463%22/36

• http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=43&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=(%22463%22%2F36.CCLS.)&OS=CCL/%22463%22/36&RS=CCL/%22463%22/36

• http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=46&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=(%22463%22%2F40.CCLS.)&OS=CCL/%22463%22/40&RS=CCL/%22463%22/40

Plan: 

Andres: I am going to keep watching the tutorial of Maya so that by next week I will be able to make animations such as swords, blocks, and the maze. 

Helana: She will continue to program and teach Ryan how to use Java. 

Ryan: He will develop ideas on how to implement biofeedback in the game that we plan on making. 

Progress Report - 10/9/14

Problem:
Deciding which platform to make our game on. Another problem that we have is that Helana is absent a lot because of her health, so we lack a lot of communication.

Progress/Solution:
This week we've decided that we are going to create a prototype of the game that we want to create. This means that instead of actually designing the monsters, we'll have blocks representing them. We want to do this just to demonstrate that our concept works. Once we finish the prototype, we'll create the real game with the real monsters. We have also started working on designing the maze because it will provide a basis. More importantly, we decided that we want you to order MindWave.
       
On other matters, Helana has decided that she wants the platform to be on PC because you can do more programming on PCs than on Macs. We are still not entirely set on whether or not the game will be an app or a full out game. To solve the problems our team have when Helana is absent, we have exchanged phone numbers so that we can communicate more easily.  Lastly, we have developed a survey to see what everyday students like to see in horror games.

Survey:

Plan:
For next week, I will work more on designing the maze, Helana will start programming, and Ryan will help both of us. Ryan will also gather more information on what people want to see in our game.

Progress Report - 10/2/14

Problem: We spent too much time focusing on biofeedback and not enough time on the actual video game.

Solution/Progress: Over the course of this week, our team has been working on creating a design for the video game that we plan on making. We first decided on the genre and the storyline of the game. We decided that just like "Nevermind", we are going to make it a horror game in order to make use of the biofeedback. We have also decided that the game will take place in a labyrinth, where there are going to be monsters waiting at every corner. In the beginning of the game, the player will have the option of choosing their weapon, varying from a sword to magic. Then we thought about the implementation that biofeedback will have on the gameplay. We decided that the emotions picked up using MindWave, the biofeedback mechanism we decided on using, will determine the difficulty of the monsters. If the player is scared/panicked, the monsters will increase in power, therefore making it more difficult for the player. However, if the player learns to calm him or herself down, then the monsters will become easier to kill. Depending on other emotions that are picked up, there will be power drops that will help the player navigate their way through the maze. We still have yet to determine the levels of the game and the actual animation of the maze, but we feel that we have made great progress.

                                                           Inspiration for Labyrinth 

Plan: For next week, we have decided to divide the work. I am going to work on the design of the game. This includes the animations and the gameplay. Helana will experiment with coding and programming. She will also decide which coding program to use. Lastly Ryan will be doing more research on biofeedback so that we can understand how MindWave works.

Progress Report - 9/25/14

Progress: Over the course of this past week, our group has been focusing on finding biofeedback hardware that can fulfill our needs and wants. We’ve done a lot of research, and have come up with a few possible takers. Out of all of them, we are leading towards NeuroSky’s MindWave module. We believe that this hardware will be the most efficient for us to use because it is the most economic and it can be programmed. This means that when we buy it, we will be able to use code in order to make it do what we want it to do. We also really like this model because it can measure brain activity, which is a safer and more reliable method to use rather than measuring the heartbeat of our players. The packaging also promotes that it is lightweight and wireless, two qualities that we think are essential. The best part is that it comes with software. In a few days we will decide if we will order it through amazon.  

MindWave: 

Problem: Because we've been focused so much on biofeedback, our team has forgotten about the most important aspect of the project: the game itself.

Solution: For next week, we all plan on making a rough concept map of our video game. We want to choose a genre and come up with a basic storyline. We also want to come up with a way to implement biofeedback into the video game in order to make it more difficult. Because we have not ordered MindWave yet, we will all be working on the rough design for next week.

Weekly Progress Report

Project groups are required to maintain Weekly Progress Report about their progress. The report is due every Thursday. The writing should be clear and concise. The following list is a template for your report.

• Progress: list of tasks accomplished, problems solved, questions answered, lessons learned, new idea identified, etc. Include any images and/or videos of your experiments, presentations and/or documents of your results, links and/or printing references, and acknowledgements of external support.
• Problem: difficulties encountered, missing information, equipments required, materials missed, open issues, new risks or show stopper identified, etc.
• Plan: steps to attack the problems, action items, experiments to conduct, ideas to try, etc. Show your schedule and task assignment for each group member for the coming week.