Investigating the effect of user profile during training for BCI-based games

Since brain-computer interface (BCI) systems have moved outside the laboratory settings, their use in virtual reality and games promised to offer a more compelling experience to the user. BCI for entertainment yields interesting applications with the main purpose to create positive experiences that enrich our lives. However, the main challenge in the use of BCIs lies in the lack of reliability and satisfactory performance that inexperienced users have. To evaluate such systems, not only user experience but also user profile (e.g., gender, role etc.) needs to be considered, helping us understand how a BCI system can better enhance the brain-to-game interaction. This paper illustrates the importance of gender, individual role (i.e., user profession), and time of use when interacting with a BCI game, with a total of 34 participants. Furthermore, we present the effect of reported workload and loss of self-consciousness during the game play on performance. Finally, we highlight the need for considering user profile in BCI research, and we show how this information could benefit BCI by improving the selection of suitable mental tasks.