‘Brain-Painting’ Cap Lets You Create Art By Thought, And May Even Treat ADHD

AI-generated art may be all the rage now, but over at the University of South Florida, researchers have devised a peculiar creative instrument that is human brain-controlled, allowing its wearer to “paint” using just their brainwaves.

The hands-free art machine is an electroencephalography (EEG) cap which, when donned, presents stimuli including different colors and shapes, like squares, circles, stars, and triangles. And just with the power of their brain, wearers will be able to guide shapes around to create a picture.

The cap picks up the users’ brainwaves and translates them into “paint strokes” on a digital canvas and conjure up simple geometric art.

According to Marvin Andujar, who was on the research team, the device works by searching for a brainwave known as the ‘P300’. This is a wave that is stimulated when we look at something we like, such as a scene in a movie, as Andujar tells Hyperallergic.

The device could have far-reaching implications for cognitive conditions. For those with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactive-Disorder (ADHD), for example, mentally moving the shapes around could boost focus as it would require a great amount of concentration and strength to perform this task.

Hence, patients who are neurologically diverse can benefit from this training exercise as a way to sharpen their neural dexterity.

The device was tested on people with ADHD from the university, many of whom enjoyed the brain workout and asked where they could continue to use it as they felt it would help them in ways their medication could not.

This inspired the team to bring the “brain-painting” tool to the masses so that others would be able to reap its benefits.

Art has long been associated with not only being a tool, but also a creative outlet for people suffering from a variety of mental illnesses to express themselves and vent their emotions. Now, it is being used as an apparatus to also help them overcome mental difficulties.

The research team is also working on ways to allow these “neuro-painters” to sell their own artworks as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

[via Hyperallergic and US News, cover image via University of South Florida]