Physiological Computing aims at guessing the “internal” state of an individual from their physiological signals and act according to this internal state in order to improve his quality of life, in general terms, or at, least this user experience. For this reason, this set of methodologies and technologies have an important potential in individuals that experiences difficulties to reach the environment from their “internal” needs. Subsequently, Physiological Computing is already, improving their life by bridging the gap from their inner to the environment.
One of the most obvious examples of this potential is the use of BCI and BNCI approaches to communicate by people with Locked-In syndrome or Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy. The later group, the people with dyskinetic cerebral palsy, is specially interesting for these approaches, because, despite most of them borne with conserved intellectual capacities, the lack of interaction with the environment and the lack of communication with third persons impedes the development of their intellectual potentials. Besides, their life expectancy is increasing as long as more tools exist to improve their communication.
Communication, besides the sharing of the ideas to third parties, also includes sharing our internal state. This has been known for years as non-verbal communication or emotional communication. When this part of the communication fails we, the communication is felt as “unnatural”. Therefore, the emotional content of the communication should be an important part when we develop alternative communication systems. Providing, the users of this kind of interfaces the possibility to express their internal state, could have the extra benefit of improving their capacity to manage their own emotions, bridging also the gap for communicating in a more natural way.