Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
How did real-time Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology begin? In this video, Christoph Guger, co-founder of g.tec medical engineering, presents the first BCI system he developed in 1997 and explains the engineering challenge that started the journey toward modern real-time neurotechnology.
At the time, EEG amplifiers were primarily designed for recording data for later analysis. Christoph wanted something different: direct access to EEG signals in real time.
Using an 8-channel EEG amplifier, a National Instruments data acquisition board and a custom MATLAB software interface, he built a system capable of accessing EEG data sample by sample and using brain activity within real-time applications.
The video also shows a portable BCI prototype developed in 1998, integrating a custom EEG amplifier directly into a Compaq Armada laptop. The system enabled portable real-time brain signal acquisition and interaction with external devices years before wearable EEG and mobile neurotechnology became widespread.
These early developments helped shape the philosophy behind g.tec medical engineering: giving researchers direct access to biosignal data and providing integrated hardware and software for real-time EEG processing, Brain-Computer Interfaces, neuroscience experiments and closed-loop neurotechnology.
Today, g.tec develops technologies ranging from wireless and high-density EEG/ECoG acquisition to real-time signal processing, BCI development, brain mapping, neurorehabilitation and multimodal neuroscience.
From an 8-channel EEG prototype to modern high-density BCI systems, this is where g.tec’s journey into real-time Brain-Computer Interfaces began.
More about g.tec medical engineering:
https://www.gtec.at/
How did real-time Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology begin? In this video, Christoph Guger, co-founder of g.tec medical engineering, presents the first BCI system he developed in 1997 and explains the engineering challenge that started the journey toward modern real-time neurotechnology.
At the time, EEG amplifiers were primarily designed for recording data for later analysis. Christoph wanted something different: direct access to EEG signals in real time.
Using an 8-channel EEG amplifier, a National Instruments data acquisition board and a custom MATLAB software interface, he built a system capable of accessing EEG data sample by sample and using brain activity within real-time applications.
The video also shows a portable BCI prototype developed in 1998, integrating a custom EEG amplifier directly into a Compaq Armada laptop. The system enabled portable real-time brain signal acquisition and interaction with external devices years before wearable EEG and mobile neurotechnology became widespread.
These early developments helped shape the philosophy behind g.tec medical engineering: giving researchers direct access to biosignal data and providing integrated hardware and software for real-time EEG processing, Brain-Computer Interfaces, neuroscience experiments and closed-loop neurotechnology.
Today, g.tec develops technologies ranging from wireless and high-density EEG/ECoG acquisition to real-time signal processing, BCI development, brain mapping, neurorehabilitation and multimodal neuroscience.
From an 8-channel EEG prototype to modern high-density BCI systems, this is where g.tec’s journey into real-time Brain-Computer Interfaces began.
More about g.tec medical engineering:
https://www.gtec.at/
