ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), SCI - Spinal Cord Injury, Stroke, TBI Traumatic Brain Injury
Conditions
Keywords
usability study, augmented reality, brain computer interface, als, generative AI, agentic, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury
Brief summary
The goal of this study is refine the usability of a BCI capable communication platform. The study will take place in the United States area and will enroll up to 10 participants with late stage ALS, traumatic brain injury (TBI) or spinal cord injury (SCI) that have assistive communication and computer control needs. Each subject will receive an integrated Cognixion + Apple Vision Pro device that includes an augmented reality brain computer interface and associated communication software. The study duration is 3-4 months for each participant. The key questions that will be addressed in this study are: 1. Identify the ability of individuals with target indications to use the integrated Cognixion-Apple Vision Pro system to communicate effectively. 2. Identify the ability of such individuals to learn to use BCI, ET-BCI and other modalities, and to measure their progress over time. 3. Identify the effectiveness of the different forms of input supported by the combined Cognixion-Apple Vision Pro system (BCI, eye-tracking) in allowing such individuals to communicate and have agency. 4. Identify how input such as BCI can be optimized to suit the needs of individuals (e.g., specific frequencies that work best for an individual, SNR with different frequencies, number of targets, length of recording for each frequency) and improve overall usability. 5. Identify the extent to which personalization through a large language model (LLM) affects communication. 6. Identify the appropriate capabilities to enable through an agentic communication interface. Key measures include: ITR - information transfer rate SUS - system usability scale
Interventions
DEVICECognixion + Apple Vision Pro
An Apple Vision Pro device, integrated with Cognixion's brain sensing band and Assisted Reality software. The integrated device enables users to construct AI assisted communication and computer control commands using a combination of attention, eye gaze and head pose.
Sponsors
Cognixion
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
DEVICE_FEASIBILITY
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Must have a designated on-site support individual who can be trained on the Cognixion system * Fluent in understanding English * 18 years or older * Must have one of ALS, spinal cord injury or chronic brain injury and need an assistive communication device * Must be able to engage in volitional eye opening and sustain eye opening independently for at least 30 minutes. * Must have a way to communicate apart from using the Cognixion device such as vocalizations, head nod, eye blinks, eyebrow raises, etc. At a minimum, reliable, independent way of communicating Yes and No
Exclusion criteria
* Disruption in English comprehension, either due to lack of fluent proficiency or due to a developmental/acquired language disorder (e.g. aphasia) * Severely hearing impaired or deaf * Sensitivity to flashing lights * Claustrophobia related to the Apple Vision Pro with comfort adapter * History of epilepsy and/or seizures * Vision disorders restricting the visual field such as glaucoma, diplopia (double vision), nystagmus (involuntary eye movements) * History of vertigo or other vestibular disorders * Scalp that is prone to irritation, inflammation, injury, or infectious process
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| System Usabilty Score | 3-4 months | A score ranging from 0 to 100 that captures the usability the device and enables it to be compared with other human machine interface devices. This is an intrisic property of the device interface (hardware/software) and is not a healh outcome measure. |
| Information Transfer Rate (ITR) | 3-4 months | The rate, in bits per minute, of information transfer for each of the device modalities. ITR is measured using a standardized selection procedure and is a measure the captures how efficient the device interface is. It is an essential measure of device throughput and is not related to any health outcome. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Phrases per Minute | 3-4 months from training | PPM is the number of complete phrases or compute rcommands that the user can construct in 1 minute. This is a usage metric that captures the efficiency of the device in predicting user utterances and does not relate to any health outcome. |
Countries
United States
Contacts
Primary ContactChristopher Ullrich, M.Sc.
Backup ContactCole Heiner, B.Sc.
Outcome results
None listed