Tag Archives: Interface

How Brain Computer Interfaces Will Change the Way We Interact with Our Devices

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Imagine opening an app on your phone and setting exactly how long you’d like to sleep, how much REM you need, and your exact wake up time. Your settings are then executed flawlessly, giving you exactly the sleep you need without the hassle of counting sheep.

It sounds like science fiction, but it’s far from it. Major entrepreneurs like Gabe Newell believe it will be one of the early applications when Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) become mainstream.

BCIs are a burgeoning new healthcare technology with massive potential. Companies like Elon Musk’s Neuralink, Gabe Newell’s Valve, and Synchron are making major headway in the field, which is inching toward mass market.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

BCIs essentially use software to decipher the chemical and electrical signals coming out of people’s brains and translate them into clicks or keystrokes on a computer or mobile device or even movement on a prosthetic arm.

Hans Berger discovered electrical activity in the human brain in 1924. This paved the way for Jacques Vidal to coin the term Brain Computer Interface in his 1973 paper “Toward Direct Brain-Computer Communications”. BCIs were first tested on monkeys in the 1970s while the first endeavors on human beings were performed in the 1990s.

The main thrust of today’s BCI research is dedicated toward building solutions which will help paralyzed people control assistive devices. Beyond healthcare, there are endless potential applications for BCIs. For example, BCIs could create significantly more immersive gaming experiences in which the gamer’s thoughts move the on-screen avatar.

HR companies could use BCIs to improve employee performance by sending an alert when they sense an employee’s attention levels are down or preventing them from operating heavy machinery when they are drowsy.

The medical community has a vested interest in seeing this technology develop. It could change the lives of generations of disabled people in the near future. As BCI start-up Paradromics put it: “The potential for BCI technology is only as impactful as how well it serves the immediate needs of patients with motor & communication impairments.”

INVASIVE BCI VS. NON-INVASIVE BCI

There are essentially two types of BCIs: invasive and non-invasive.

Invasive BCIs involve a surgical implant of the device into the skull of the user. In ECOG (electrocorticography), an electrode plate is placed directly on the brain’s surface to measure its electrical activity. A second technique known as intracortical microelectrodes involves an implant that has two applications—stimulating and recording. Applications for stimulating incorporate sensory prosthetics—such as cochlear implants which provide the sensation of sound for the deaf.

Surgeries that require doctors to open up a patient’s skull are dicey to say the least. Non-invasive BCIs avoid this altogether. They can work using a variety of non-invasive technologies to measure brain activity, including EEG (electroencephalography), ERP (Event Related Potentials), MEG (Magnetoencephalography), fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resistance Imaging) or fNIRS (Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy).

ELON MUSK AND NEURALINK

Elon Musk founded Neuralink in 2016. Their goal was to create a device that would translate a person’s thoughts into actions. They have implanted chips into animals and notably released a video of a macaque monkey playing video games with its mind.

Although Neuralink is one of the major players of BCIs, they have lagged behind other companies in the field. Neuralink has yet to implant a BCI in humans. Their devices require highly invasive head implants which have drawn complaints from animal rights activists.

GABE NEWELL AND VALVE

Another notable player in BCIs today is Gabe Newell, founder of the gaming company Valve. Valve’s goal is to use OpenBCI headsets to develop an open-source software platform that would make it easier for developers to understand the signals coming from people’s brains.

It could enable software to understand whether a player is enjoying a game and adjust the experience accordingly. He envisions a world where games can adjust their difficulty level depending on how the player is reacting mentally.

SYNCHRON TAKES THE CAKE

Synchron’s stentrode device is currently in the forefront of the market. Synchron beat Neuralink to the punch by securing FDA approval to implant its first device into a US patient. Synchron has an advantage because the stentrode can be inserted into the brain without cutting through a skull or damaging tissue. It’s a major innovation since it can be implanted safely minimizing risk for cerebral damage.

The stentrode is about the size of a AAA battery and can be planted endovascularly rather than through the brain. In fact, it’s so seamless, patients could be sent home the same day. Synchron has already implanted stentrodes into the brains of four patients in Australia suffering from neurodegenerative diseases. All of their patients have had no side-effects and have been able to send messages through WhatsApp as well as make online purchases using the device.

The stentrode is placed close enough to the brain to detect neural signals. Those signals, which could be a thought to move a body part or a cursor on a computer screen, are then relayed out to a computer using Bluetooth technology. In the words of Synchron CEO and founder Dr. Tom Oxley: “People who are paralyzed can still think about moving their body. It’s the muscles that don’t work… We essentially bypass the broken body by taking the information directly out of the brain to control devices that let them live independently.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

We can’t predict how quickly BCIs will become a consumer-facing technology, nor the bevy of applications they will enable. What we do know is that this field is growing and will in all likelihood become a game-changing technology that completely redefines life for the disabled, as well as how we interact with our devices.

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Part 2: Optimize Onboarding with Gamification

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How Gamification Can Boost Retention on Any App Part 2: Optimize Onboarding with Gamification

The Mystic Media Blog is currently endeavoring on a 3 part series on how gamification mechanics can boost retention on any app—not just gaming apps but utility apps, business apps and more. In this second entry, we explore how to refine and gamify your onboarding process to keep customers coming back.

ONBOARDING

Your app has been downloaded—a hard-fought battle in and of itself—but the war isn’t over; the onboarding process has just begun.

App onboarding is the first point of contact a user has within an application. It’s one of the most crucial parts of the user experience. Situating users in your application is the first step to ensuring they come back. Twenty-five percent of apps are only opened once after being downloaded. Many apps simply do not make it simple enough for users to understand the value and get the hang of the application—step one in your retention process.

Here are the top tips for smooth onboarding:

MINIMIZE REGISTRATION

A prolonged registration process can turn off new users. Users do not always have time to fill out extensive forms and can quickly become resentful of the pacing of your app. Keep registration to a minimum, minimize required fields, and get users going faster.

We recommend enabling user registration altogether with “Continue as Guest” functionality. Games typically employ this and it enables users to get hands on with the application before they undergo the tenuous account creation process. Hook them with your app, then let them handle the administrative aspects later. Account creation with Google, Facebook, or Twitter can also save quite a bit of time.

Gamification is all about rewarding the user. Offer users an incentive to create their account to positively reinforce the process and you will see more accounts created. If they haven’t created an account, make sure to send prompts to remind them of what the reward they are missing out on. As we detailed in our last entry, FOMO is a powerful force in gamification.

TUTORIAL BEST PRACTICES

When a user enters your application for the first time, they generally need a helping hand to understand how to use it. Many games incorporate interactive tutorials to guide the user through functionality—and business apps are wise to use it as well. However, an ineffective tutorial will only be a detriment to your application.

Pacing is key. A long tutorial will not only bog the onboarding process down, too much information will likely go in and out of the user’s brain. Space your tutorial out and break it into different sections introducing key mechanics as they become relevant. On-the-go tutorials like the four-screen carousel below by Wavely help acclimate users quickly and easily.

And don’t forget to offer a reward! Offer users some kind of reward or positive reinforcement upon completing tutorials to encourage them to continue using the application.

AVOID DEAD ENDS AND EMPTY STATES

An empty state is a place in an application that isn’t populated with any information. For example, favorites, order history, accomplishments, etc.—these pages require usage in order to be populated for information. New users will see these pages and become confused or discouraged. Many applications will offer self-evident statement such as “No Favorites Selected”. Or, in the case of UberEats below, no message is displayed.

It’s confusing and discouraging for users to see these statements. Avoid discouraging your users by offering more information, for example: “Save your favorite restaurants and find them here.” Check out Twitter’s exemplary message for users who’ve yet to favorite a tweet below.

CONCLUSION

Onboarding is the first and most crucial step to building a relationship with your userbase. One of the major things business apps can learn from gaming apps is that time is of the essence when it comes to capturing a user’s attention. Keep it short, punchy, and to the point.