Concurrent control of natural and robotic limbs through a tactile-encoded brain-computer interface

Abstract Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) promise to extend human movement capabilities by enabling direct neural control of supernumerary effectors, yet integrating augmented commands with multiple degrees of freedom without disrupting natural movement remains a key challenge. Here, we propose a tactile-encoded BCI that leverages sensory afferents through a tactile-evoked P300 paradigm, allowing reliable decoding of supernumerary motor intentions even when superimposed with voluntary actions. The interface was evaluated in a multi-day experiment comprising a single motor recognition task to validate baseline BCI performance and a dual-task paradigm to assess the potential influence between the BCI and natural human movement. The interface achieved real-time and reliable decoding of four supernumerary degrees of freedom, with significant performance improvements after three days of training. After training, performance did not differ significantly between the single-task and dual-task conditions, and natural movement remained unimpaired during concurrent supernumerary control. Lastly, the interface was deployed in a movement augmentation task, demonstrating its ability to command two supernumerary robotic arms for functional assistance during bimanual tasks. These results establish a neural interface paradigm for movement augmentation through stimulation of sensory afferents, expanding motor degrees of freedom without impairing natural movement.