NeuroReality: um sistema para inserção, análise e gerenciamento de dados de eletroencefalografia em ambientes virtuais

Abstract

Virtual reality is a technology that enables the integrated action between computers and human brain. The feasibility of reproducing real situations in a controlled way and the possibility to simulate and visualize actions impossible to be perceived in the real world, make this type of technology have applications in several areas, such as health, education and entertainment. In the field of neuroscience, virtual reality, combined with brain-computer interfaces, has become an important tool for the study and understanding of brain activity, as well as contributing greatly to the rehabilitation of weakened brain functions. In this sense, the objective of this work was the creation of a system called "NeuroReality", which is composed by a component for the Unity engine and a simple management interface, where researchers or interested people in neuroscience can insert, view and manipulate electroencephalography data in a virtual test environment. For the development of the component, it was used the C# programming language, the Visual Studio 2017 integrated development environment, the Unity game engine and a wrapped version of the VRPN, called UVRPN. Regarding the interface development, it was used the Java programming language, the NetBeans integrated development environment and the Java version of the VRPN library. The obtained product is a system that provides the user all its functionality in a single interface, simple and intuitive, where it is possible to access EEG data and simultaneously perform actions on objects contained in the virtual environment. The system also has the ability to capture and save EEG data over time, in the form of tables, and record the virtual environment to which the component is associated, in the form of video, for possible future analysis.