FAU Researcher Presents Innovative Idea for Integrating a "Brain Mouse" to Control Software Systems

Shihong Huang, Ph.D., associate professor in the Florida Atlantic University Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science presented preliminary results on creating a self-adaptive software system with the capability of anticipating a user’s intentions at the 2015 IEEE/ACM 37th International Conference on Software Engineering (2015 ICSE) in Florence, Italy in May.

Huang’s and computer engineering master’s degree student, Pedro Miranda’s paper entitled, "Incorporating Human Intention into Self-Adaptive Systems," discusses the preliminary results on creating a "brain mouse" — a Brain Computer Interface – that controls software systems via neural input (i.e., thoughts, desired actions and covert emotions). Accordingly, the software system can then "feel" and “anticipate” human intentions and therefore react self-adaptively.

This research brings human computer interaction (HCI) beyond the more familiar user interface channel that utilizes overt behavioral inputs (e.g., mouse click, keyboard, voice commands, etc.). It demonstrates a new era in the field of software engineering that embraces neural input into software systems which is becoming a new reality.

Huang's presentation was part of the "New Ideas and Emerging Results" track at the 2015 ICSE conference.

This research is part of an ongoing interdisciplinary collaboration with Emmanuelle Tognoli, Ph.D., research associate professor in the FAU Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences.

Read the paper (pdf format).