Brain-computer interfaces and human factors: the role of language and cultural differences—Still a missing gap?

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) aim at the non-invasive investigation of brain activity for supporting communication and interaction of the users with their environment by means of brain-machine assisted technologies. Despite technological progress and promising research aimed at understanding the influence of human factors on BCI effectiveness, some topics still remain unexplored. The aim of this article is to discuss why it is important to consider the language of the user, its embodied grounding in perception, action and emotions, and its interaction with cultural differences in information processing in future BCI research. Based on evidence from recent studies, it is proposed that detection of language abilities and language training are two main topics of enquiry of future BCI studies to extend communication among vulnerable and healthy BCI users from bench to bedside and real world applications. In addition, cultural differences shape perception, actions, cognition, language and emotions subjectively, behaviorally as well as neuronally. Therefore, BCI applications should consider cultural differences in information processing to develop culture- and language-sensitive BCI applications for different user groups and BCIs, and investigate the linguistic and cultural contexts in which the BCI will be used.

Cornelia Herbert