Towards an assistive vestibular stimulation and brain monitoring using a two-channel in-ear EEG system for fine motor enhancement

The thesis focused on the development of an assistive device employing a galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) and brain monitoring platform through in-ear electroencephalography (EEG) system that aims to improve the user’s fine motor skills. The effect of noisy GVS on fine motor skills in healthy subjects was investigated and results showed that simultaneous GVS delivery statistically improved the tracking performance and may be beneficial in improving sensorimotor performance during a fine motor task. A two-channel in-ear EEG system was used for user-state monitoring during performing such a task and results demonstrated the feasibility of using the ear-worn wearable for detecting mental workload induced through a visuomotor task. Future work requires integrating the two components together where electrical stimulation can be reliably delivered and triggered by monitoring user’s mental state through an in-ear EEG system so that the two subsystems work in a closed-loop manner coherently.