Brain-Computer Interface Controlled Role-Playing Game Status Update - Opensource BCI RPG designed for maximum accessibility

I have been developing a BCI RPG designed for maximum accessibility with the goal to be usable by the LIS/CLIS population.

The primary website for the BCI RPG project can be found at http://bcirpg.com/ including our opensource github repository; The Github repo is generally where most of the updates take place. We typically only update the BCIRPG page a few times a year at most, but we are active every week.

Overview

RPG Research is a huge advocate for accessibility and inclusiveness in gaming. Not only through all of our training, advocacy, and accessible mobile facilities, but through our active projects to make gaming accessible to all.

The ultimate in accessibility potential is through the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technologies based on Electroencephalogram (EEG) technologies, integrating with AR & VR, (and eventually back into the physical world through robotics), literally allowing a person to interface with computer systems purely with the thoughts of their brain.

Also, when linked with haptics, robotics, AR, VR, and other technologies it is the potential in ultimate immersive experiences.

We have been hard at work experimenting with EEG and BCI equipment with music and RPGs since 2004.

Back Story

Hawke Robinson (founder of the non-profit RPG Research, and the for-profit RPG Therapeutics), explained about his motivation in creating the BCI RPG project,

"In 1989 I was a nurses aide and LPN trainee, and had my first Complete Locked in State (CLIS) patient. He was the same age I was, and had been there over a year due to a skiing injury. His brain was fully active and aware, but he was trapped in his own body and couldn't communicate by any means at all. That left a lasting impression, that was furthered by subsequent patients over the years. It has always been something I hoped to find a means of addressing.

I am a very active advocate for accessibility, including in gaming. I have been involved with RPGs since 1977, and researching their effects since 1983.

In the early to mid 90s I had my first personal experiences with EEG, biofeedback, and neurofeedback equipment, around 1996-1998 my first use of a brain-computer interface with a PC. In the early 2000s I began experimenting with EEG (and BCI) equipment with games. I hope some day that people trapped in such situations not only can get basic communication functioning, but also have opportunities for the powerful benefits of cooperative social role-playing games.

We are now years into an opensource project with other volunteer developers creating an online, multiplayer, turn-based, role-playing game specifically designed to be played through BCI equipment with the goal of being the most accessible RPG ever."

LIS & CLIS - Locked In Syndrome and Complete Locked in State

Our founder was dramatically motivated to try to find a solution for those people suffering from Locked-in Syndrome (LIS) and Complete Locked-in State (CLIS), when caring for a young adult in 1990 as a nurse's aide and LPN trainee, at Doxie Hatch Medical Center, and as a habilitation therapist at Hillcrest Care Center. Wanting to figure out a way to use technology to help them reconnect socially, set them free of their physical prisons of the mind, and gain back some of their lives.

See the BCI RPG website and our Github for the latest updates.

We welcome anyone wanting to join our volunteer development team to help with advancing this project more quickly. Simply sign up as an RPG Research volunteer under the Electronic RPG Developer (ERPG) role. You can help in many areas including coding, QA, user testing, UI/UX design, and more.