Citation: Gena, C.; Hilviu, D.; Chiarion, G.; Roatta, S.; Bosco, F.M.; Calvo, A.; Mattutino, C.; Vincenzi, S. The BciAi4SLA Project: Towards a User-Centered BCI. Electronics 2023, 12, 1234. https://doi.org/10.3390/ electronics12051234 Academic Editor: Jichai Jeong Received: 24 December 2022 Revised: 17 February 2023 Accepted: 22 February 2023 Published: 4 March 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). electronics Article The BciAi4SLA Project: Towards a User-Centered BCI Cristina Gena 1, * , Dize Hilviu 2 , Giovanni Chiarion 3 , Silvestro Roatta 4 , Francesca M. Bosco 2 , Andrea Calvo 4 , Claudio Mattutino 1 and Stefano Vincenzi 1 1 Department of Computer Science, 10149 Turin, Italy 2 Departmentof Psicology, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy 3 Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Polytechnic University of Turin, 10129 Turin, Italy 4 Department of Neurosciences “Rita Levi Montalcini”, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy * Correspondence: cristina.gena@unito.it Abstract: The brain–computer interfaces (BCI) are interfaces that put the user in communication with an electronic device based on signals originating from the brain. In this paper, we describe a proof of concept that took place within the context of BciAi4Sla, a multidisciplinary project involving computer scientists, physiologists, biomedical engineers, neurologists, and psychologists with the aim of designing and developing a BCI system following a user-centered approach, involving domain experts and users since initial prototyping steps in a design–test–redesign development cycle. The project intends to develop a software platform able to restore a communication channel in patients who have compromised their communication possibilities due to illness or accidents. The most common case is the patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In this paper, we describe the background and the main development steps of the project, also reporting some initial and promising user evaluation results, including real-time performance classification and a proof-of- concept prototype. Keywords: user-centered brain–computer interaction; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; user-centered design 1. Introduction The brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) are interfaces that put the user in communication with an electronic device based on signals originating from the brain. There are two general classes of brain imaging technologies: invasive technologies, in which sensors are implanted directly on or in the brain, and non-invasive technologies, which measure brain activity using external sensors [1]. Non-invasive BCIs are mainly based on electroencephalographic (EEG) signals. In these systems, users are enabled to manipulate their own brain activity to produce signals that will then be used to control computers or communication devices without the aid of motor movements. EEG-based interfaces use an alteration of the brain’s electrical activity as an input signal, which is defined as event-related synchronization or desynchronization (for a review of EEG-based BCI paradigms, see [2]). The change in brain activity may be caused by stimuli triggered by external events (exogenous) or stimuli voluntarily produced by the user, for instance, while imagining something (endogenous) [3]. In addition to voluntary signals, involuntary physiological or passive signals can also be used in BCIs (for a review, see [4]). In this case, brain activity is an expression of the spontaneous cognitive and affective states of the user: spontaneous brain activity represents the (implicit) input from which the system derives its output to assist the user in a given task [5]. Endogenous stimuli can be used by a larger sample of subjects that could benefit from this technology since they do not require to move body parts or perform physical activities. Cognitive tasks are, indeed, the most used, and they consist of the effort produced through a mental task where the user is asked to imagine or do something. Electronics 2023, 12, 1234. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12051234 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics