An Alpha-Wave-Based Motion Control System of a Mechanical Pet for Mental Commitment

We are developing a control system for a mechanical pet, in which the mechanical pet moves in a way that makes the user feel most comfortable as judged by his/her alpha waves. We constructed a real-time control system for customizing the mechanical pet motions according to the user´s measured alpha waves. Compared with the ordinary biofeedback system in which the user makes an effort to be relax intentionally by informed the state of his/her alpha waves, our system makes it possible for the user to be relax unintentionally and comfortably by watching his/her favorite motions of mechanical pet controlled by his/her own alpha waves. The motions were selected based on the research results and evaluated by preliminary experiments. The results of experiments for evaluating the constructed system show the system´s effectiveness.