Brain-Computer Interface Establishes International Standards

International Standardization Body Establishes ‘BCI Data’ Standard Development Working Group

International standards for the data format of ‘Brain-Computer Interface (BCI)’ technology, which connects the human brain to computers, are being developed under the leadership of South Korea.

According to the National Standards Institute of the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy on the 11th, the new international standard proposal (NP: New Proposal) for the ‘Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) data format’ proposed by South Korea was approved at the recent general meeting of the ‘BCI International Standardization Committee (ISO/IEC JTC1/SC43)’ held in Hangzhou, China.

At this meeting, South Korea also established a working group (WG 3) to handle the new international standard proposal (NP) proposed by South Korea and future proposals for BCI data field standards. South Korea will serve as the temporary chairman until the upcoming chairperson election.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are technology that directly connects the brain to computers and have been rapidly advancing, particularly with the integration of recent artificial intelligence technology. They are applied in various fields, such as helping patients with difficulty speaking due to stroke conditions or ALS communicate and controlling assistive devices with just thoughts. However, the lack of standardized data formats for various BCI technologies has made it challenging to utilize data efficiently due to compatibility issues between devices.

This new international standard proposal was developed through the Ministry of Industry’s National Standardization Technology Enhancement Project (Project Manager: Professor Jo Yeong Im of Gachon University). It defines the scope of common data essential data and provides a unified data format to ensure mutual compatibility of data among BCI device manufacturers.

The new international standard proposal (NP) is the first step in international standardization. It will go through stages such as Working Draft (WD) → Committee Draft (CD) → International Standard (IS) → Final International Standard (FDIS).

The Brain-Computer Interface International Standardization Subcommittee (Chair and Rapporteur: China) was established in June of last year, with 20 countries currently participating as full members or associate members. South Korea is one of 11 full members, along with the United States, Japan, and China. Within the committee, three working groups have been formed, including the foundational (WG 1) and application (WG 2) groups, as well as the data (WG 3) group, which South Korea currently chairs.

Jin Jong Wook, the head of the National Standards Institute, stated, “Advanced digital technology industries are evolving to the point of connecting the human brain and computers.” He added, “We will actively support South Korea’s proposal and leadership in the BCI International Standardization Committee (JTC1 SC43) starting from the initial stages.”

By. Choi Choe, Reporter (skchoi@inews24.com)