Brain Computer Interface Systems for Neurorobotics: Methods and Applications

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Brain computer interface (BCI) systems establish a direct communication between the brain and an external device. These systems can be used for entertainment, to improve the quality of life of patients and to control virtual and augmented reality applications, industrial machines, and robots. In the neuroscience field such as in neurorehabilitation, BCIs are integrated into controlled virtual environments used for the treatment of disability or cognitive development of subjects, for example, in case of cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and depression. Its aim is to promote a recovery of brain function lost due to a lesion through noninvasive brain stimulation (brain modulation) in a more accurate and faster manner than the traditional techniques. Neurorobotics combines BCIs with robotics aiming to develop artificial limbs, which can act as real members of human body being controlled from a brain-machine interface. With the advancement of a better understanding of how our brain works, new realistic computational algorithms are being considered, making it possible to simulate and model specific brain functions for the development of new Computational Intelligence algorithms and, finally, BCI for mobile devices/apps.