— Written by Fredi Mino — Hello again! Since the last time we met, I have been working towards producing a machine learning model that can accurately predict the different gestures/finger movements that we are classifying, and (spoiler alert) it seems like we are almost there! If we are to have any chance of success, […]

—Written by Ariyana Miri— Welcome back! If you’ve been following along with my FOMO glasses journey, then you know I’m trying to build a pair of glasses that capture a photo every time you blink. In my last post, we discussed the idea behind my project, and the implications the success of the project can […]

—Written by Sofia Eisenbeiser— Please give a warm welcome to the newest additions to Backyard Brains: the tiger barbs! Hello, everyone! It’s Sofia, coming at you with an update on the BYB fish. So, we last left off with making the discovery that one of our African cichlid fish likes to chase a laser pointer around […]

—Written by Nour Chahine— As you may recall from my introductory blog post, this summer I’m working on building a TinyML device that can guess which card you secretly picked based on your brain’s EEG signal. But it’s a road paved with many SSVEPs (Steady State Visually Evoked Potentials)! These past two weeks have been […]

—Written by Sachin Pillai— Lo and behold, somehow I’m already five weeks into the BYB fellowship program this fine summer. At this point, the only bluff I’ve certainly encountered is just how fast time can pass! Just kidding. I have in fact made significant progress with my Poker Bot over the past weeks and that […]

—Written by Samuel Kuhn— These two photos just about summarize the past 5 weeks of searching for the Readiness Potential. I’ve hit a stone wall trying to replicate it so that it could bring me one step closer to understanding the free will phenomenon! I have been collecting EEG data just about every day trying […]

–Written by Sarah Falkovic– Welcome to the update on my lie detector project! In my previous blog post, I discussed the modality of electrodermal activity, a.k.a our unconscious sweat response and its ties to stress. However, as a method of measuring lies it leaves much to be desired due to its ability to be swayed […]

—Written by Fredi Mino— Fancy having a robot hand that mimics your real hand’s gestures?  Me too! That’s why I’m designing one with another helping hand – from our good old friend, TinyML. I will do this by measuring the activity of the muscles involved in hand movements using surface Electromyography (sEMG). Then, we will […]

***Written by Sofia Eisenbeiser*** Ever had this feeling that fish in your aquarium are having a blast?  This summer I am working with a few of them to determine whether or not they exhibit play behaviors.   This study began as a simple replication of Dr. Gordon Burghardt’s 2014 publication, which found that three white-spotted African […]

***Written by Nour Chahine*** Can you use a brain-computer interface to perform magic tricks? Guess what card someone is thinking of? That is exactly what my TinyML project, Pick a Card, is all about.  I will develop a small screen to show a set of playing cards while measuring EEGs. The subject chooses a card, […]

—Written by Ariyana Miri— How much do you notice throughout your day? Are you paying attention to your surroundings? Are you present in every moment of your life? Odds are, the answer is no. As most adults know, the more we grow up, the more we seem to live on autopilot. We’ve got places to […]

—Written by Sachin Pillai— This summer at Backyard Brains, I’m developing a Poker Bot trained via machine learning that can detect when players bluff and predict how risky a player’s hand is based on internal physiological reactions during the game. A full month into the fellowship, I’ve already had substantial progress with my project! The […]