BCIwiki (bciwiki.com) — University at Buffalo author Lola Peres evaluated an assistive communication system combining a BCI and eye tracking, reporting faster selection than BCI alone and fewer selection errors and corrections. The paper appeared in the Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting on October 22, 2026.
Participants completed symbol selection, phrase construction and correction tasks using steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP), eye tracking, or a hybrid interface. SSVEPs are brain responses to sustained visual stimulation. In the hybrid condition, gaze narrows the target region before brain-signal classification confirms the intended selection.
Measures included selection rate, accuracy, errors, correction time, communication throughput, workload, effort, trust and preference. The hybrid interface offered better control than eye tracking alone, with reductions in unintended selections and correction burden especially apparent in dense layouts and longer tasks.
The author calls for gaze thresholds, SSVEP analysis windows and visual layouts to be tailored to users. Although augmentative and alternative communication serves people with severe speech and motor impairments, the public abstract does not specify participant numbers or clinical characteristics, limiting assessment of applicability to those users.