Thematic Session 26

THEMATIC SESSION #26

Clement Bougard

Creative Center Stellantis, Vélizy-Villacoublay, France

• clement.bougard@stellantis.com

Giulia Lioi

IMT Atlantique, Technopole Brest Iroise, Brest, France

• giulia.lioi@imt-atlantique.fr

Julien Dauguet

Laboratoire d’Imagerie Biomédicale (LIB), Sorbonne Université, Paris France

• julien.dauguet@cnrs.fr

Lucas Benoit

IMT Atlantique, Technopole Brest Iroise, Brest, France ; Creative Center Stellantis, Vélizy-Villacoublay, France

• lucas.benoit@imt-atlantique.fr

The increasing availability of portable EEG systems, particularly those utilizing dry electrodes, is opening new avenues for neuroscience research and brain-computer interface (BCI) applications in real-world environments. However, the transition from controlled laboratory settings to ecological scenarios presents significant challenges, including increased susceptibility to motion artifacts, environmental noise, and degraded signal quality.

This thematic session will bring together researchers and practitioners to discuss recent innovations in portable EEG for real-world applications. We invite contributions on key advancements in dry electrode technology, innovative hardware setups, and novel signal processing techniques designed to enhance data quality outside the lab. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

• Artifact correction and noise reduction strategies tailored for degraded recording conditions (e.g., autonomous vehicles, mobile EEG applications);
• New dry electrode designs that improve comfort, stability, and signal quality;
• Advances in machine learning and signal processing to enhance EEG decoding in real-world scenarios;
• Real-time BCI applications leveraging portable EEG for interactive and adaptive systems.

The objective of this session is to share best practices and foster collaboration towards the widespread adoption of dry electrode technologies for real-world, out-of-the-lab utilization. By bridging expertise from neuroscience, engineering, and AI, we aim to accelerate the development of robust methodologies that make portable EEG a reliable tool for both research and applied domains.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

• Advances in dry electrode materials and design;
• Comparison of dry vs. wet electrodes in real-world / ecological settings;
• Flexible and hybrid electrodes for improved comfort and signal quality;
• Motion artifact correction for mobile EEG applications;
• Machine learning approaches for real-time EEG processing;
• EEG preprocessing pipelines optimized for degraded environments;
• EEG recording challenges in high-motion environments (e.g., sports, driving);
• Source localization challenges in mobile EEG settings;
• Use of portable EEG in clinical and neurorehabilitation settings.

Clément Bougard earned his Ph.D. in Sport Sciences in 2009, focusing on the effects of time-of-day and sleep deprivation on motorcycle driving performance. He then joined the French Armed Forces Biomedical Research Institute, where he spent six years with the Fatigue and Vigilance team, researching the impact of sleep and sleep-wake rhythm disturbances (both acute and chronic) on human behavior and integrated physiology. Since 2017, Clément has been working in human factors at STELLANTIS, a leading car manufacturer. Currently, as a chief project engineer in the Advanced Cockpit team and the lead of the 'Automotive Motion Lab' in Marseille, he focuses on monitoring driver and passenger conditions. He also co-supervises research on brain-computer interfaces, as well as motion sickness, drowsiness, neuromuscular fatigue, and posture in automotive settings.

Giulia Lioi is Associate Professor at IMT Atlantique, a top technological university in Brest, France. After graduating in biomedical engineering at La Sapienza University in Rome (Italy), she obtained a PhD degree from the University of Southampton (UK), on the analysis of brain connectivity during sleep and anesthesia. She then joined Inria Rennes (France) as a Post-Doctoral researcher to develop multimodal neuroimaging techniques for Brain Computer Interfaces. In 2020 she joined the BRAIn team at IMT Atlantique where she focuses on improving brain computer interfaces using deep learning and graph signal processing.

Julien Dauguet earned his engineering degree in medical signal processing and his PhD in neuroscience in the field of translational medicine. He worked as a researcher at Harvard Medical School where he focused on brain connectivity and child brain development before joining the Paris Imaging Research team at Philips Healthcare. He then obtained a position as a full-time researcher on novel brain imaging technologies for neurodegenerative diseases at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). His interest in entrepreneurship led him to found the neurotech startup Conscious Labs with the vision of taking neurotechnologies out of the lab. Julien is the creator of the dry active ThinkPulseⓇ sensor. He is now in the Neural Connectivity and Plasticity team at Sorbonne Université.

Lucas Benoit is a doctoral student on a CIFRE thesis in collaboration with IMT Atlantique and Stellantis. After graduating in medical engineering from ECE Paris in 2021, he worked at Conscious Labs on brain-computer interfaces. In 2024, he began his PhD on brain-computer interfaces in the automotive environmen.