Last Updated on March 22, 2023 by pg@petergamma.org
Is MNE Python as well known as OpenBCI GUI? MNE Python is based on Python and is known to be an alternative for Matlab based EEG software. MNE Python is used in papers, but we do not know of MNE Python student projects, which are as numerous as OpenBCI GUI and Mind Monitor students projects. Andrey Parfenov has already connected OpenBCI to Python and MNE Python, and also the Muse Headband.
If we use Python and MNE Python for Muse and OpenBCI for instance for student projects, we would have a more creative community. Is Muse EEG development still possible without Muse SDK? The Muse had a creative community of low-cost EEG developers, which is gone since the end of the Muse SDK and the Muse forum.
OpenBCI is used by creative technologists, and also Unicorn Black is sold as this. But we do not know of a large community of OpenBCI Python or OpenBCI MNE Python users. This could change in the future. If students use the Mind Monitor and OpenBCI GUI, how can then OpenBCI Python and projects evolve?
Python is more flexible than the Mind Monitor and OpenBCI GUI. We think a problem with OpenBCI and Python is simply, that it is currently not used very often. Students still use the Mind Monitor and OpenBCI. But if student supporters would choose Python instead of the old platforms, we would have a new community. It requires first a documentation which is simple for beginners. This documentation is already there, but is it widely used? It is not widely used, since students use the Mind Monitor and OpenBCI GUI.
But which platform to choose for student projects is the decision of high school and university student supporters. We suggest to those to use OpenBCI with Python instead of the Mind Monitor and OpenBCI GUI. This eventually would require and update of the Python OpenBCI documentation for students, to make it easier for students to start with, and not much more.
But for MNE Python to become the Home Assistant of EEG by which we mean for MNE Python to be a contemporary platform which is widely used as Home Assistant, MNE Python examples with Muse, OpenBCI and InfluxDB would be highly desirable. We currently do not know of any examples with Muse, OpenBCI and InfluxDB. These would make these platforms more contemporary and more interesting for Python users.