What is the Unicorn Naked BCI?

The Unicorn Naked BCI is the electronics of the Unicorn Hybrid Black without the enclosure: an 8-channel wireless EEG development board intended to be designed into custom hardware. It exists for developers, engineers, startups and OEM partners who need proven, EMC-tested EEG acquisition inside their own headset, wearable or embedded product rather than inside g.tec's.

Everything that makes the Hybrid Black work is on the board. Eight channels at 24-bit resolution, Bluetooth connectivity, an integrated Li-Ion battery, a 3-axis accelerometer and a 3-axis gyroscope, and the same signal acquisition path used by researchers worldwide. Access to the Unicorn software ecosystem comes with it, so a prototype can be recording and streaming EEG before the mechanical design is finished.

Key Features

• Board-level integration: Designed to be built into custom headsets, wearables, research rigs and commercial neurotechnology products.
• Proven acquisition path: The same 8-channel, 24-bit DC-coupled EEG electronics as the Unicorn Hybrid Black, with oversampling for signal quality.
• Unrestricted raw data: No limits on how EEG data is accessed, processed, streamed, recorded or analysed.
• Broad API coverage: Python, C, C++, C#, .NET, Android, Unity and MATLAB Simulink, plus LSL and UDP streaming.
• Onboard motion sensing: 3-axis accelerometer and gyroscope for artefact tracking and interaction design.
• Certified and compliant: EMC tested, CE certified and RoHS compliant, which shortens the path to a compliant end product.
• Embedded friendly: Documented examples cover Raspberry Pi, edge computing and Bluetooth integration.
• No recurring fees: Lifetime access to the included software ecosystem with no annual licensing.

An open development ecosystem

The Naked BCI is built to avoid vendor lock-in. Real-time data streams over Lab Streaming Layer or UDP, which makes it straightforward to synchronise EEG with eye trackers, motion capture, physiological sensors, VR environments and machine learning frameworks. Development happens in whichever language the team already uses: Python, C, C++, C#, .NET, Android, Unity or MATLAB Simulink.

Software included

Access to the Unicorn software ecosystem ships with the board. Unicorn Recorder handles acquisition, filtering, artefact suppression, visualisation and storage; Unicorn Bandpower provides real-time frequency band analysis; the LSL and UDP interface apps handle outbound streaming. GitHub repositories add API documentation, example projects, Raspberry Pi integrations, Bluetooth communication examples, Unity projects and real-time BCI applications for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android.

Supported paradigms

SSVEP, P300, motor imagery, VEP and neurofeedback are all supported, and because raw EEG is fully accessible, custom classification and feature extraction approaches can be implemented without working around the platform.

Built into real products

The Naked BCI has been used in custom EEG headsets, wearable neurotechnology, art and fashion-tech installations, robotics control systems, educational kits, VR and AR experiences and startup prototypes that went on to become commercial products. Craig Ades at Florida Atlantic University describes the flexibility for developing his own interfaces as the reason he chose it.

Typical uses

• Custom EEG headset and wearable device development
• OEM integration into commercial neurotechnology products
• Startup prototyping and proof-of-concept builds
• Neurofeedback and attention training applications
• Robotics, VR and human-computer interaction projects
• Embedded and Raspberry Pi based EEG systems
• Machine learning pipelines on raw EEG