Yard Brains has launched a brand new Kickstarter marketing campaign for Spiker:bit, which permits anybody to transform their very own bioelectrical alerts, comparable to brainwaves (EEG), muscle exercise (EMG), and heartbeats (EKG), into interactive tasks utilizing a easy plug-and-play system mixed with drag-and-drop coding by way of the BBC micro:bit.
The platform helps real-time biofeedback, enabling customers to view their physiological alerts and make the most of them to manage motors, lights, sounds, and extra in brain-machine interface (BMI) tasks. For instance, customers can flex a muscle to maneuver a servo, blink to play a sport, or sync your heartbeat to LED patterns, all with out expertise in coding or neuroscience. The Spiker:bit can be classroom-ready, moveable, and reasonably priced, aiming to democratize STEM schooling by using complicated BMI interface ideas accessible to college students as younger as 10.
Snap in a pair of AA batteries, connect reusable pores and skin electrodes, and customers are up and operating in lower than 5 minutes. Spiker:bit leverages a visible coding setting based mostly on the micro:bit’s drag-and-drop blocks, making it ultimate for college students, whereas supporting Python and JavaScript for extra superior customers as nicely.
The system is supported by NIH-funded scientists and has already been carried out in lecture rooms, makerspaces, and analysis labs worldwide. College students have constructed a myriad of muscle-controlled tasks utilizing Spiker:bit, together with a dinosaur sport, a Morse code messenger, and a two-player “tug of conflict.”
The Spiker:bit is available in equipment type, and consists of a Spiker:bit amplifier board, electrode cables, muscle electrodes, a battery pack, and tutorials for each block-based and text-based programming. Elective equipment embody EEG headbands, servo motor kits, additional electrodes, and even a DIY neuro-prosthetic hand.
Yard Brains additionally consists of classroom-ready sources, comparable to free lesson plans, science requirements alignment, setup guides, and cross-curricular experiments that vary from biology and coding to design and implementation. The Spiker:bit is at the moment being crowdfunding on Kickstarter, with pledges beginning at $70 for early hen pricing.
