During the World Robot Conference 2019 in Beijing recently, the Tianjin University Neuroscience Team set the typing speed record with the mind-reading device, winning first place in both the parietal lobe (P300) Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) group and the occipital lobe BCI group and second place of a three-session-mixed (SSVEP, P300 and Motor Imagery) skill contests. All three events are part of the BCI Controlled Robot Contest, which is one of four major contests at the World Robot Conference. The Contest includes the skill contest (for individuals) and the technology contest (for teams). The former examines how to fully use current BCI devices, while the latter focuses on how to create original BCI technologies through algorithms.

As for the skill contest, among only forty of over one thousand contestants entering the final, Wei Siwen, second-year postgraduate and member of the Tianjin University Neuroscience Team, won second place. Additionally, as an excellent BCI controlled contestant, she participated in the BCI controlled typing record challenge and set a new record, 691.55 bits per minute. This can also be regarded as 69 Chinese characters per minute, faster than the average person on a smart phone.

Wei Siwen receives the second place award in the skills contest.

Wei Siwen with the medals

For the technology contest, there were sixteen finalists from more than four hundred teams. Brain Hacker, a team from the Tianjin University Neuroscience Team, took part in the contests of three sessions (SSVEP, P300 and Motor Imagery) and won first place in the parietal lobe (P300) BCI trained group.

The Tianjin University Neuroscience Team

Aside from the competitions, the Tianjin University Neuroscience Team also received considerable attention for their BCI technology application displays at the Conference.