Electroencephalogram with Machine Learning for Estimation of Mental Confusion Level

Abstract

Estimating the mental state of an individual is crucial to many applications. A quantitative measure of the confusion one faces while doing a task can be useful in determining which subtask is the most difficult. This paper thus aims to develop an algorithm to estimate the confusion score using EEG signals collected using a Neurosky Mindwave Headset. Also, a full contextual audio based confusion score is generated to improve the system's resilience. In this paper, the final algorithm is used to propose an EEG based system to enable the UI/UX testing which can help in confusion estimation and thus provide a qualitative means to measure the attention and concentration level of people which can be extended to various applications. The raw EEG data collected from the device was used to calculate the confusion score using various Machine Learning algorithms. This brain computer interface (BCI) system can be extended for calculating the confusion score of a person which can be used for various applications such as teaching, child health monitoring, suicide prevention, mental health analysis etc. The brain computer interface thus calculates the confusion score and based on the threshold value of the attention and concentration level it performs certain actions such as sending messages and alerts to emergency contacts. This is further extended to solve the problem of Usability testing in Human Computer Interaction.