EP0301790A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Biopotential digital controller for music and video applications
Assignee: BioControl Systems Inc
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Filing: 1988-07-25
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2008-07-25
Abstract
Abstract There is disclosed apparatus and methods for sensing electrical signals generated in a living body and mapping these signals to MIDI code. The apparatus senses electrical signals generated in the body through electrodes (12, 14, 16) on the skin or implanted in various areas of the body. The electrical signals are then amplified (24), filtered (26) and converted (28) to digital data. This digital data is analyzed to determine characteristics of the electrical signals such as amplitude, frequency, change in amplitude or change in frequency. These characteristics are then mapped (36) to MIDI code or other code to control the generation of musical (38) notes or video (40) display information. There is also disclosed a method and apparatus for determining the alpha wave or other content of brain waves by taking a fast fourier transform of the brain wave and determining the coefficient for the fourier frequency component at the frequency of desired frequencies. Further, a method of altering MIDI code generated from biopotentials is disclosed where the effect of musical notes generated by the MIDI code on the biopotentials causes changes in the MIDI code. A similar method is also disclosed wherein MIDI code received from another machine is changed based upon mapping of biopotentials from the body of a subject.
Inventors
- 👤 Hugh S. Lusted
- 👤 Benjamin R. Knapp
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 11:04
CPC Classifications
G; G10; G10H; G10H1/00; G10H1/02; A; A61; A61B; A61B5/00; A61B5/24; A61B5/316; A61B5/369; A61B5/372; A61B5/374; A61B5/377; A61B5/38; A61B5/318; A61B5/346; A61B5/347; A61B5/72; A61B5/7225; A61B5/7235; A61B5/7253; A61B5/7257; G10H2220/00; G10H2220/135; G10H2220/155; G10H2220/371; G10H2220/376
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 36
Claim 1
Independent Claim
35 words
An apparatus for generating data for controlling the generation of musical notes comprising: means for sensing biopotential signals in real time; means for receiving said biopotentials and mapping them in real time into MIDI code.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
35 words
An apparatus for generating data for controlling the generation of musical notes comprising: means for sensing biopotential signals in real time; means for receiving said biopotentials and mapping them in real time into MIDI code.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
38 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 1 further comprising any known machine capable of receiving and utilizing MIDI code to control the operations of said machine coupled to receive said MIDI code for generation of musical notes therefrom.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
155 words
An apparatus for real time generation of digital data to control the generation of musical notes mapped from electrical signals generated in a living body comprising: at least one output device for converting incoming digital data for the control of musical notes into musical notes; means for sensing in real time at least one electrical signal generated in a living body and converting said electrical signal in real time into a first stream of digital data samples representing said electrical signal; mapping means for receiving said first stream of digital data samples and for extracting in real time from said first stream of digital data samples at least one characteristic of said electrical signal generated in said living body and for mapping in real time each said characteristic and the changes therein into a second stream of digital data capable of controlling the generation of musical notes and for transmitting same to said output device.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
155 words
An apparatus for real time generation of digital data to control the generation of musical notes mapped from electrical signals generated in a living body comprising: at least one output device for converting incoming digital data for the control of musical notes into musical notes; means for sensing in real time at least one electrical signal generated in a living body and converting said electrical signal in real time into a first stream of digital data samples representing said electrical signal; mapping means for receiving said first stream of digital data samples and for extracting in real time from said first stream of digital data samples at least one characteristic of said electrical signal generated in said living body and for mapping in real time each said characteristic and the changes therein into a second stream of digital data capable of controlling the generation of musical notes and for transmitting same to said output device.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
69 words
The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said means for sensing includes a differential amplifier having an output and having an input coupled to sense and to amplify said biological signal via two sensing electrodes and a ground electrode coupled to said inputs, said electrodes for being placed in contract with a body, said differential amplifier having sufficient common mode rejection to substantially eliminate common mode noise at said input.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
38 words
The apparatus of claim 4 further comprising a bandpass filter means coupled to the output of said differential amplifier for passing to said mapping means without substantial attenuation only frequencies within the passband of said bandpass filter means.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
63 words
The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said sensing means further comprises a plurality of data channels each of which includes a differential amplifier and a bandpass filter, at least some of said data channels having different passbands for said bandpass filters, each said channel for sensing a different biopotential signal generated in a living body and each said channel having a signal output.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
94 words
The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising a multiplexer having a plurality of inputs each of which is coupled to said signal output of one of said channels, and having a signal output coupled to supply said electrical signal to said mapping means, and said multiplexer having a control input for controlling which input is coupled to said signal output, said control input coupled to said mapping means to receive select signals therefrom, and wherein said mapping means is also for generating signals to control which said input said multiplexer couples to said output.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
128 words
An apparatus for converting biological electrical signals to musical notes comprising: input means for sensing and amplifying electrical signals generated by a living body and for filtering out unwanted components of said electrical signals and for converting the remaining components to a first stream of digital data; processing means for receiving said first stream of digital data and extracting from it one or more characteristics of said electrical signals and mapping in real time each said characteristic and its changes to a MIDI parameter and corresponding changes in said parameter, and for generating a stream of MIDI words for each said characteristic; and at least one MIDI machine for receiving said stream of MIDI words and for converting said MIDI words to musical notes or other musical data.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
128 words
An apparatus for converting biological electrical signals to musical notes comprising: input means for sensing and amplifying electrical signals generated by a living body and for filtering out unwanted components of said electrical signals and for converting the remaining components to a first stream of digital data; processing means for receiving said first stream of digital data and extracting from it one or more characteristics of said electrical signals and mapping in real time each said characteristic and its changes to a MIDI parameter and corresponding changes in said parameter, and for generating a stream of MIDI words for each said characteristic; and at least one MIDI machine for receiving said stream of MIDI words and for converting said MIDI words to musical notes or other musical data.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
108 words
An apparatus for converting electrical signals generated in a body into video data in real time comprising; input means for sensing a biological electrical signal and for converting it in real time to a first digital data stream; a video output device for converting incoming digital data containing user input information into video display information; and mapping means for receiving said first digital data stream and for extracting a characteristic of said biological electrical signal embodied in said first digital data stream and for mapping said characteristic into a second digital data stream capable of supplying said user input information and for transmitting same to said output device.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
108 words
An apparatus for converting electrical signals generated in a body into video data in real time comprising; input means for sensing a biological electrical signal and for converting it in real time to a first digital data stream; a video output device for converting incoming digital data containing user input information into video display information; and mapping means for receiving said first digital data stream and for extracting a characteristic of said biological electrical signal embodied in said first digital data stream and for mapping said characteristic into a second digital data stream capable of supplying said user input information and for transmitting same to said output device.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
119 words
An apparatus for modifying MIDI code generated by a machine in accordance with biopotentials generated by a living body comprising: means for receiving MIDI code from another machine; mapping means for sensing electrical signals generated by a living body; mapping means for determining a characteristic of said electrical signal and mapping the characteristic to a change to be made in said received MIDI code; and means coupled to receive said MIDI code from said other machine and data from said mapping means regarding the change to be made in said MIDI code and for making the change required by said data from said mapping means and for outputting MIDI code modified in accordance with signals from said mapping means.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
119 words
An apparatus for modifying MIDI code generated by a machine in accordance with biopotentials generated by a living body comprising: means for receiving MIDI code from another machine; mapping means for sensing electrical signals generated by a living body; mapping means for determining a characteristic of said electrical signal and mapping the characteristic to a change to be made in said received MIDI code; and means coupled to receive said MIDI code from said other machine and data from said mapping means regarding the change to be made in said MIDI code and for making the change required by said data from said mapping means and for outputting MIDI code modified in accordance with signals from said mapping means.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
114 words
An apparatus for mapping one or more frequency components of brain waves to MIDI code comprising: means for sensing brain waves and for filtering out frequencies outside a passband including the characteristic frequency of the desired frequency component and for outputting the filtered output signal; means for sampling said filtered output signal at a rate which is sufficiently high to prevent aliasing; means for performing a fourier transform operation on a plurality of said samples; means for determining the amplitude of the desired frequency component coefficient resulting from said fourier transform operation at the characteristic frequency of said desired frequency component; means for mapping the intensity of the desired frequency component into MIDI code.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
114 words
An apparatus for mapping one or more frequency components of brain waves to MIDI code comprising: means for sensing brain waves and for filtering out frequencies outside a passband including the characteristic frequency of the desired frequency component and for outputting the filtered output signal; means for sampling said filtered output signal at a rate which is sufficiently high to prevent aliasing; means for performing a fourier transform operation on a plurality of said samples; means for determining the amplitude of the desired frequency component coefficient resulting from said fourier transform operation at the characteristic frequency of said desired frequency component; means for mapping the intensity of the desired frequency component into MIDI code.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
35 words
The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said means for mapping includes means for mapping changes in intensity of the alpha wave component of brain waves to changes in the program number of the MIDI code.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
189 words
An apparatus for generating MIDI code from electrical signals generated in a human body comprising: means for sensing electrical signals generated in a muscle or group of muscles in a living body and for generating a first output signal; means for sensing brain waves generated in a living body and for filtering out unwanted frequency components and for generating a second output signal; means for sensing electrical signals generated in a living body to drive a heart muscle and for filtering out unwanted frequency components and for generating a third output signal; means for sampling said first, second and third output signals at sample rates which are high enough to prevent aliasing and for generating digital data representative of each of said first, second and third output signals; and processing means having an input for receiving said digital data and having an output, said processing means for extracting a characteristic of each of said first, second and third output signals from said digital data and for mapping each said characteristic to a different channel of MIDI code and for outputting each said channel of MIDI code at said output.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
189 words
An apparatus for generating MIDI code from electrical signals generated in a human body comprising: means for sensing electrical signals generated in a muscle or group of muscles in a living body and for generating a first output signal; means for sensing brain waves generated in a living body and for filtering out unwanted frequency components and for generating a second output signal; means for sensing electrical signals generated in a living body to drive a heart muscle and for filtering out unwanted frequency components and for generating a third output signal; means for sampling said first, second and third output signals at sample rates which are high enough to prevent aliasing and for generating digital data representative of each of said first, second and third output signals; and processing means having an input for receiving said digital data and having an output, said processing means for extracting a characteristic of each of said first, second and third output signals from said digital data and for mapping each said characteristic to a different channel of MIDI code and for outputting each said channel of MIDI code at said output.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
21 words
The apparatus of claim 13 wherein each channel of MIDI code is output during a different time interval at said output.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
26 words
A method of generating MIDI code comprising the steps of: sensing electrical signals generated in a living body; and mapping said electrical signals to MIDI code.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
26 words
A method of generating MIDI code comprising the steps of: sensing electrical signals generated in a living body; and mapping said electrical signals to MIDI code.
Claim 24
Independent Claim
41 words
A method of generating digital code for controlling a video game comprising the steps of: sensing electrical signals generated in a living body; and mapping said electrical signals to digital code suitable for supplying user input data for a video game.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
41 words
A method of generating digital code for controlling a video game comprising the steps of: sensing electrical signals generated in a living body; and mapping said electrical signals to digital code suitable for supplying user input data for a video game.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
56 words
A method of generating MIDI code comprising the steps of: sensing electrical signals generated in a living body and filtering out unwanted frequency components; converting said filtered electrical signals to digital data; extracting at least one characteristic of said electrical signals from said digital data; and mapping said characteristic of said electrical signals into MIDI code.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
56 words
A method of generating MIDI code comprising the steps of: sensing electrical signals generated in a living body and filtering out unwanted frequency components; converting said filtered electrical signals to digital data; extracting at least one characteristic of said electrical signals from said digital data; and mapping said characteristic of said electrical signals into MIDI code.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 17 further comprising the step of generating musical notes from said MIDI code.
Claim 29
Independent Claim
90 words
A method of generating MIDI code from brain waves comprising the steps of: sensing electrical brain waves in real time; sampling the brain waves at a sample rate which is at least high enough to prevent aliasing and converting the samples to digital data; performing a fourier transform on the digital data of a plurality of said samples; determining the magnitude of the fourier series coefficient for the frequency component of interest; and mapping the magnitude of the fourier series coefficient of the frequency component of interest into MIDI code.
Claim 30
Independent Claim
90 words
A method of generating MIDI code from brain waves comprising the steps of: sensing electrical brain waves in real time; sampling the brain waves at a sample rate which is at least high enough to prevent aliasing and converting the samples to digital data; performing a fourier transform on the digital data of a plurality of said samples; determining the magnitude of the fourier series coefficient for the frequency component of interest; and mapping the magnitude of the fourier series coefficient of the frequency component of interest into MIDI code.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
80 words
The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of filtering out frequency components outside a passband of frequencies wherein the characteristic frequency of desired frequencies is within said passband prior to performing the sampling step, and wherein the step of determining the magnitude of the coefficient of the frequency component of interest comprises determining the magnitude of the fourier series coefficient for the frequency component having the characteristic frequency of alpha waves such as beta, delta and theta waves.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
73 words
The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of filtering out frequency components outside a passband of frequencies wherein the characteristic frequency of EKG waves is within said passband prior to performing the sampling step, and wherein the step of determining the magnitude of the coefficient of the frequency component of interest comprises determining the magnitude of the fourier series coefficient for the frequency component having the characteristic frequency of EKG waves.
Claim 33
Independent Claim
73 words
The method of modifying MIDI code comprising the steps of: sensing electrical signals generated in a living body; mapping said electrical signals to MIDI code; using said MIDI code to generate musical notes; reevaluating said electrical signals generated in said living body for the effect said musical notes had on said electrical signals; and modifying said MIDI code by mapping the changes in said electrical signals to corresponding changes in said MIDI code.
Claim 34
Independent Claim
73 words
The method of modifying MIDI code comprising the steps of: sensing electrical signals generated in a living body; mapping said electrical signals to MIDI code; using said MIDI code to generate musical notes; reevaluating said electrical signals generated in said living body for the effect said musical notes had on said electrical signals; and modifying said MIDI code by mapping the changes in said electrical signals to corresponding changes in said MIDI code.
Claim 35
Independent Claim
67 words
A method of modifying MIDI code received from another machine capable of generating MIDI code comprising the steps of: sensing electrical signals generated in a living body; receiving said MIDI code from another MIDI machine; evaluating the characteristics of said electrical signals and mapping said characteristics to changes in said MIDI code; and changing the MIDI code in accordance with the changes determined in said mapping step.
Claim 36
Independent Claim
67 words
A method of modifying MIDI code received from another machine capable of generating MIDI code comprising the steps of: sensing electrical signals generated in a living body; receiving said MIDI code from another MIDI machine; evaluating the characteristics of said electrical signals and mapping said characteristics to changes in said MIDI code; and changing the MIDI code in accordance with the changes determined in said mapping step.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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