Tecnologías Específicas

Ingeniería del Software

Descripcion y Objetivos

This current project intends to build an Android application to improve the way in which disabled people interact with mobile devices. By making use of electric activity acquired from a brain computer interface (BCI) device, different and customized types of interactions will be experimented, expecting to improve the final user autonomy and quality of life.

The main objective of this project is the development of an application that will extend the functionality offered by EVA Facial Mouse application (Fundación Vodafone España, n.d.) by making use of the Emotiv Epoc+ wearable electroencephalography headset and the whole collection of new interaction mechanisms that it introduces. both technologies will increase the posible interactions of a quadraplegic user with a touch system.

The straightforward mentioned objective could be split up into the following sub-objectives:

1. Study brain computer interfaces (BCI) as well as the different interaction mechanisms that they introduce.
2. Analyse and use the functionality offered by Emotiv in terms of interaction through encephalography and brain waves.
3. Deepen knowledge and analyse background documentation and work context of EVA Facial Mouse application.
4. Study the integration of the functionalities offered by the BCI, which will be covered in this FYP, as part of the global EVA Facial Mouse system.
5. Develop a brain computer interface (BCI) application that could exploit the potential of EEG devices and reflect it in the capacity of multimodality of the final application, giving the user a much more customizable application.
6. Evaluate the prototype with real users

 

Metodología y Competencias

The student will make use of Scrum as the main project management methodology, as well as some Kanban practices that improves project visibility and work in progress (WIP): Kanban boards.

The following table shows the estimated sprint distribution.

Sprint	Sprint description
0	Initial Study
1	Prototype for capturing Facial Expressions
2	Prototype Integration into EVA Facial Mouse
3	Prototype for capturing Mental Commands
4	Integrate Sprint 3 Prototype into EVA Facial Mouse
5	Software Gestures Implementation
6	Integrate New Gestures into EVA Facial Mouse
7	Design the Evaluation Cases
8	Final Evaluation with a Case of Study

 

The following table shows the justification of specific skills developed.

 

Skills	Justification
Ability to develop, keep the maintenance, and assess services and software systems which could comply with all user’s requisites, and guarantee their reliability and efficiency, as well as an affordable development and maintenance following all quality standards, applying theories, principles, and methods within the field of Software Engineering.	The project will be managed by utilising change-driven methodologies as Scrum and Kanban, especially the former. Moreover, and taking into consideration the nature of the project, a great effort will be performed in order to address usability evaluations with final users.
Ability to assess the customer’s needs and specify those software requisites which can cover their needs, meeting the objectives of any conflict throughout the search of compromise within the budged frame, the time, and the availability of applicable systems in the existing corporation.	This competence will be covered by both planning and retrospective meetings with the client in each sprint. This organization will allow us to properly manage the workload at each moment of the project development.
Ability to solve integration problems according to the strategies, standards, and available technology.	This skill will be carried out during application integration with the remaining modules that make up the EVA Facial Mouse project. In addition, the Emotiv SDK will be used. It is important to take into account the fact that we are making use of some external resources in order to collect motion and brainwaves data, and so they also have to be integrated in the project.
Ability to identify, assess, and manage any associated potential risk which could arise.	The project addresses the analysis of the challenges and possibilities offered by brain computer interfaces (BCI) with the aim of developing a solution applying engineering techniques in general, and software engineering techniques in particular.
Ability to design appropriate solutions in one or several application fields through the use of software engineering methods which could combine ethical, social, legal, and economic aspects.	Certain detection technologies use images of the face as input data that contributes to the application functionality, and since an image is considered to be personal data, it falls within the scope of the Organic Data Protection Act, leading to the fact that legal implications of the prototype must be taken into account.

 

Medios a utilizar

HARDWARE RESOURCES

Emotiv EPOC+ neuroheadset

Portable, high resolution, wireless, fourteen-channel, electroencephalography (EEG) neuroheadset. This Brain Computer Interface (BCI) let us access brain data in terms of brainwaves and brain signals that are processed by the headset and sent wirelessly in Bluetooth format.

Android Mobile Device

Smartphone with Android Mobile Operating System (MOS) in which the application will be deployed. In order to get the whole set of application features, the device must be equipped with a front camera and Bluetooth capability.

Personal Computer

            In order to carry out the project development, it will be used the author’s personal laptop.

SOFTWARE RESOURCES

motiv SDK

Software element that will be used within the project in order to collect and process Bluetooth data coming from the headset. In this sense, the SDK constitute the link that makes it possible the interaction and communication between the headset and our Android application. Thanks to this element, we will be able to manage in an easier way the events produced and sent by the Emotiv EPOC+ headset. In this sense, events could be facial expressions, mental commands or data coming from inertial sensors.

EVA Facial Mouse

Android application that allows the user to control an Android™ device by tracking the face. It is based on the movement of the face captured through the front camera, the app allows the user to control a pointer on the screen (i.e., like a mouse), which provides direct access to most elements of the user interface. It is intended to be used by those people who cannot actually use a touchscreen. For instance, some people with amputations, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or other disabilities may benefit from this app.

Emotiv Xavier Control Panel

Desktop based application that will let us learn about the different features and capabilities of the neuroheadset (i.e., fitting and connect the headset, monitor and record performance metrics, facial expressions and practice mental commands, or make use of the inertial sensors). This tool is also intended to be useful at testing phase when the application will be evaluated with real users.

 

Tools to Support Project Management and Development

• ZenHub. Project management web tool that follows agile practices. The best thing is that it is quite well integrated with Github (Butler & Paquette, 2016).
• GitHub. Version control system based on Git.
• Android Studio. Official Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for Android app development, based on IntelliJ IDEA. Apart from offering all the powerful code editor and developers tools, it is particularly well focused on Android features.
• Visual Studio Code. Free, multiplatform and open-source code editor.

 

Bibliografía

Butler, M., & Paquette, P. (2016). Better Software & Stronger Teams. Retrieved from https://www.zenhub.com/github-project-management.pdf

Fundación Vodafone España. (n.d.). EVA Facial Mouse | Fundación Vodafone España. Retrieved April 4, 2018, from http://www.fundacionvodafone.es/app/eva-facial-mouse

Kniberg, H., & Skarin, M. (2010). Kanban and Scrum : making the most of both. C4Media, Inc. Retrieved from https://books.google.es/books?hl=es&lr=&id=Hx1KAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=Kanban&ots=gmjPVwrSVC&sig=McivRdJAVvH-H-jzTrRS7jbs7ec#v=onepage&q=Kanban&f=false

Meyer, B. (2014). Agile! The Good, the Hype and the Ugly (First Edition). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05155-0