Skip to main content
Navigate back to homepage
Open search bar.
Open main navigation menu

Main navigation

  • Study
    UCL Portico statue
    Study at UCL

    Being a student at UCL is about so much more than just acquiring knowledge. Studying here gives you the opportunity to realise your potential as an individual, and the skills and tools to thrive.

    • Undergraduate courses
    • Graduate courses
    • Short courses
    • Study abroad
    • Centre for Languages & International Education
  • Research
    Tree-of-Life-MehmetDavrandi-UCL-EastmanDentalInstitute-042_2017-18-800x500-withborder (1)
    Research at UCL

    Find out more about what makes UCL research world-leading, how to access UCL expertise, and teams in the Office of the Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation and Global Engagement).

    • Engage with us
    • Explore our Research
    • Initiatives and networks
    • Research news
  • Engage
    UCL Print room
    Engage with UCL

    Discover the many ways you can connect with UCL, and how we work with industry, government and not-for-profit organisations to tackle tough challenges.

    • Alumni
    • Business partnerships and collaboration
    • Global engagement
    • News and Media relations
    • Public Policy
    • Schools and priority groups
    • Visit us
  • About
    UCL welcome quad
    About UCL

    Founded in 1826 in the heart of London, UCL is London's leading multidisciplinary university, with more than 16,000 staff and 50,000 students from 150 different countries.

    • Who we are
    • Faculties
    • Governance
    • President and Provost
    • Strategy

Using an electroencephalogram to play a computer game

Vion, a 17-year-old sixth form student on work experience at Aspire CREATE, describes his experience of testing an electroencephalogram (EEG) to control a computer game.

Person wearing a cap with diodes as an electroencephalogram. Screen with readings in the foreground.

Breadcrumb trail

We used an electroencephalogram (EEG) to acquire the neural signals that would be processed by a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) system to control a computer game. We had to write an additional piece of code to take the classified signals and translate it into left and right mouse-movements.

The control was nor perfect, but we were able to substitute the brain signals for a computer mouse with reasonable accuracy. The application of this research could be beneficial for patients who suffer from severe motor impairment. For example, for somebody with a spinal cord injury, a BCI system could produce commands directly from the brain, to control one or more external devices.

Overall, the performance was much better when the video game was manually controlled with a computer mouse, compared to when controlled with a BCI system. Nevertheless, within just a couple of days of practice with the video game, the performance had increased, with a general improvement trend throughout the sessions.

It remains unclear if the BCI system could perform the same tasks almost as effectively as a computer mouse. We concluded that although it would be feasible for a person with severe motor disabilities to play a video game without being able to move, they would still be incapable of playing completely independently.

Further research is required for a BCI system to completely substitute the full abilities of a functional computer mouse. This could, in turn, allow a person with a severe motor disability to freely play video games.

Experimental procedure and comments

Person wearing a cap as an electroencephalogram in front of a screen with an MS Windows display

For the neural activity recordings, we used an EEG, as it is non-invasive and has low risks. 

The EEG system we used had 16 electrodes with embedded preamplifiers that were configured according to the international 10-20 electrode placement system. 

The electrical brain signal was acquired with a sampling rate of 512Hz. The set-up procedure consisted of connecting a PC with an Ubuntu coding terminal to an amplifier which was connected to another preamplifier.

The next step was to position the EEG cap (from g-Tech) over the user's head, ensuring that the Cz placement was exactly half the nasion-inion distance, as well as the half-way between the ears, to centre the cap. After this, the conductive gel is applied to the electrodes protruding from the EEG cap, including the ground and reference electrodes. The difference in activity between these last two electrodes and the other electrodes allows the exclusion of external noise recorded by the EEG. 

We checked the EEG signals on the software 'EEGview' to ensure that the 'impedance' and the signal quality were adequate to be able to start the BCI training.

Initially, we had to complete a few offline training sessions, where I had to passively focus on the sensation perceived when the arrows appeared before we could advance to the online training sessions, where I was able to control the movement of a bar. A BCI system must first learn about a user’s brain signals before it can use them to perform the output. It needed to learn my brain signals in response to which direction the arrow was pointing. As a result, during the online training sessions, I was able to practise controlling the movement of the arrow towards the chosen direction.

After moving the arrow to the desired side of the screen at least 70% of the time, I was able to move on to a real game ('Jardinains 2'). The aim is to keep a ball on the screen by moving a little platform at the bottom of the screen horizontally from left to right. This would usually be accomplished by manually moving a computer mouse from left to right.

Playing the game using a BCI system was achieved by sending a signal from the EEG laptop to the 'Adafruit Feather 32u4 Bluefruit LE' (an all-in-one Arduino-compatible - Bluetooth - Low Energy development board with built-in USB and battery charging).

The connection of both PCs (the specific Ubuntu, with Linux, EEG laptop and the Windows laptop with the video game) was achieved by additional code written by Professor Tom Carlson. This sent the information from the EEG laptop to the feather with was connected via Bluetooth to the video game computer as a Bluetooth mouse.

As a result, the EEG laptop was able to read my brain signals and then translate them, so that the cursor on the Windows laptop could be controlled.

It was an unforgettable, fantastic, eye-opening, and fun educational experience. I wish that I could return with more knowledge to continue my EEG-based BCI research, with innovative techniques and new technologies.

Vion Vimalan

About Vion

I applied for a Nuffield Research Placement between Year 12 and 13 because I have a passion for the sciences and love to learn and use my analytical brain to solve problems methodically. 
I am currently completing A-Level courses in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Psychology, because I enjoy the challenge of solving new problems. 

My interests lie in the medical/healthcare field, so I would like to take a degree that enables me to apply my scientific knowledge to improve lives, either by medical diagnosis or clinical lab-based treatment/prevention development, to improve peoples' quality of life. 

My ultimate goal is to apply what I have learned to the real world, where I will be able to make a difference and improve society for the better.

Highlights in Medical Sciences

New Dean of Medical Sciences appointed
Professor Emma Morris

Announcement

New Dean of Medical Sciences appointed

Internationally recognised clinician scientist, Professor Emma Morris, will take up the role of Dean of UCL's Faculty of Medical Sciences in August 2025.

28 February 2025

Lung cancer test better predicts survival in early stages of disease
Cancer Cells Dividing

Research breakthrough

Lung cancer test better predicts survival in early stages of disease

A new test developed by UCL Cancer Institute and the Francis Crick Institute can better predict lung cancer survival at diagnosis.

09 January 2025

The King and Queen meet UCL cancer specialists at UCLH
Professor Charles Swanton (left) and Professor Karl Peggs (right) meet with The King and Queen

Royal visits

The King and Queen meet UCL cancer specialists at UCLH

King Charles and Queen Camilla met UCL clinical researchers developing new cancer treatments, along with cancer patients receiving care and their families.

01 May 2024

UCL footer

Visit

  • Bloomsbury Theatre and Studio
  • Library, Museums and Collections
  • UCL Maps
  • UCL Shop
  • Contact UCL

Students

  • Accommodation
  • Current Students
  • Moodle
  • Students' Union

Staff

  • Inside UCL
  • Staff Intranet
  • Work at UCL
  • Human Resources

UCL social media menu

  • Link to Soundcloud
  • Link to Flickr
  • Link to TikTok
  • Link to Youtube
  • Link to Instagram
  • Link to Facebook
  • Link to Twitter

University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7679 2000

© 2025 UCL

Essential

  • Disclaimer
  • Freedom of Information
  • Accessibility
  • Cookies
  • Privacy
  • Slavery statement
  • Log in