A device for controlling a computer with brain activity will be tested on the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Poland’s first scientific and technological space mission, IGNIS. Scientists aim to study how microgravity affects blood flow in the brain and human-machine communication.
The experiment, called PhotonGrav, is one of 13 in the IGNIS mission and will be carried out by Polish ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski. The Ax-4 mission is scheduled to launch on June 8.
According to Dariusz Zapała, PhotonGrav project manager and scientific director at Cortivision, the company produces portable devices for recording brain activity for research purposes. “We test our equipment in many extreme environments,” says Zapała, who specializes in brain-computer communication.
The device was already used during the Ax-2 mission in 2023 and Ax-3 in 2024. For IGNIS, Cortivision proposed research on the possibility of using this technology in space conditions for communication. The goal: to see how non-muscular application control works in microgravity conditions.
The device records brain activity, and machine learning algorithms – i.e. artificial intelligence – identify patterns corresponding to mental states like increased mental load or relaxation. Astronauts increase brain activity by solving math problems and relax by avoiding intense thoughts. “AI tries to recognize whether the astronaut is relaxed or mentally engaged,” says Zapała. “This allows the user to control a computer application.”
The device measures blood oxygen demand in different brain regions. It works similarly to an EEG but uses infrared light. Emitters send light into the brain; detectors capture the reflected signal. The more active a brain region is, the more oxygen it needs, affecting how light is scattered.
‘When light passes through individual layers of skin, bones, and finally brain tissue, the blood flowing through the brain partially scatters this light. As a result, only part of it returns to the surface of the head, where the detectors are located. Knowing the properties of the light sent towards the brain and the results recorded by the detectors, we can say whether a given area of the brain uses more or less oxygen’, the project manager describes.
He adds that the information reaches an amplifier on the subject’s forearm, and the amplifier sends the processed signal to a computer application via Bluetooth. During the experiment, the astronaut learns to control the application installed on the computer: the goal is to move the strip on the screen in a certain direction using only the brain.
The tests on members of the Ax-4 crew, including Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, will be performed three times: before the flight (some of them have already been carried out), during their stay in orbit and after their return. The authors of the experiment will check how the results of working with the equipment differ in conditions on Earth and in space.
According to the psychologist, in the future, the solution developed by his team may be useful in space and on Earth: ‘It can be used in extreme situations, when there is no medical personnel nearby, movements are difficult or when monitoring brain activity is important for safety reasons. These may be orbital stations or spaceships, and on Earth – isolated mountain trails, Arctic bases or drilling platforms, i.e. all places where other devices cannot be used to record brain activity. Our device may also be useful in cases where the health condition does not allow full muscle control – for example during recovery after injuries’.
The Ax-4 crew includes Peggy Whitson (USA) – commander, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (Poland/ESA) – specialist, Shubhanshu Shukla (India) – pilot, and Tibor Kapu (Hungary) – specialist. They will spend 14 days on the International Space Station.
The Ax-4 mission is a commercial expedition by Axiom Space. Poland’s participation results from an agreement between the Ministry of Development and Technology and ESA to prepare and conduct the Polish scientific and technological mission IGNIS. The Polish Space Agency (POLSA) is also involved in the preparations as the executive agency of the Ministry of Development and Technology.
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