Evoked Potential Eye Mask

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Contents

Summary

The most basic concept that can explain an evoked potential device is that of a warm crackling fire: The calming effect of sitting in front of the fireplace, watching the flames flicker, hearing the sound, and feeling the pulsing heat all in tune of the same rhythm. One of the reasons for this effect (not discounting the many other psychological associations, basic warmth, etc.) is Evoked Potential, the natural tendency of the brain to fire in sync with its sensory surroundings. Odds are good that fire is flickering at a slow 4-12 Hz, the Theta and Alpha ranges associated with calm relaxation.

The goal of this project is to build a device that can induce these brain wave states using flashing LEDs and pulsing audio. Many other examples of this concept are currently out in the world, but one example near to the hearts of many in the Maker community is the Make Brain Machine by Mitch Altman.
The design goals of this model are as follows:

  1. Soft wearable design suitable for sleeping such as a face mask.
  2. Self programmable using a simple computer interface.
  3. Multiple programs stored on device for easy selection and playback.
  4. Rechargeable batteries.
  5. Option to plug in your portable music player and play over the pulsing beats. (reduces effectiveness but more pleasurable)
  6. Electronics removable for washing.

The chosen platform for the electronics is the Lilypad Arduino microcontroller board. After some experimentation with the open source Mitch Altman design I estimate that the ATMega328 controller will be overkill for this design, but will afford many future enhancement possibilities.


© Designs and Code under this project distributed under Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution Share-Alike License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Materials

1 x LilyPad Arduino Mainboard SparkFun DEV-09266
1 x FTDI-based USB Arduino programmer (I have an Arduino MiniUSB which works with some minor adjustments.) UPDATE: Those instructions are old. For the new 6pin Lilypad you need to also connect a CTS and DTR pin from the MiniUSB.
1 x LilyPad LiPower SparkFun DEV-08786
1 x LiPoly Charger - Single Cell 3.7-7V Input SparkFun PRT-00726
1 x Polymer Lithium Ion Batteries - 1000mAh SparkFun PRT-00339
1 x Spool of Conductive Thread - 234/34 4ply SparkFun DEV-08549
1 x Surface Mount Navigation Switch SparkFun COM-08184
8 x Triple Output SMD LED RGB SparkFun COM-07844
4 x 4.7K SMD resistors (LEDs)
2 x 2.7K SMD resistors (Audio)
7 x 10K resistors (audio mixer and Selector switch)
2 x 1μF SMD Capacitors
1 x Stereo Headphone Jack RadioShack 274-249
1 x Cheap set of headphones
1 x Eye mask (Make Your Own) I envision 3 layers of fabric. A soft sheer inner lining, an outside fabric with the color of your choosing, and a center circuit-fabric layer. Velcro could be used to hold the layers together for easy disassembly/washing

Design

EPEM Source Code
EPEM Schematics

Links

LilyPad Home
Arduino Forum: How to implement a soft-reset button
BrainWave Machines
Simple Mixer Circuit
TheEntropyWorks SLM Mod

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