Attention Sensitive Web Browsing
This addresses web usability for users with EEG devices, but it is incremental as it applies existing EEG technology to a new application domain.
The paper tackles the problem of web interaction by using EEG to measure user attention, enabling control of UI elements, making browsers responsive to attention levels, and allowing developers to create attention-sensitive websites.
With a number of cheap commercial dry EEG kits available today, it is possible to look at user attention driven scenarios for interaction with the web browser. Using EEG to determine the user's attention level is preferable to using methods such as gaze tracking or time spent on the webpage. In this paper we use the attention level in three different ways. First, as a control mechanism, to control user interface elements such as menus or buttons. Second, to make the web browser responsive to the current attention level. Third, as a means for the web developer to control the user experience based on the level of attention paid by the user, thus creating attention sensitive websites. We present implementation details for each of these, using the NeuroSky MindWave sensor. We also explore issues in the system, and possibility of an EEG based web standard.