Feasibility of Embodied Dynamics Based Bayesian Learning for Continuous Pursuit Motion Control of Assistive Mobile Robots in the Built Environment

Abstract

Non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG)-based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) offer an intuitive means for individuals with severe motor impairments to independently operate assistive robotic wheelchairs and navigate built environments. Despite considerable progress in BCI research, most current motion control systems are limited to discrete commands, rather than supporting continuous pursuit, where users can freely adjust speed and direction in real time. Such natural mobility control is, however, essential for wheelchair users to navigate complex public spaces, such as transit stations, airports, hospitals, and indoor corridors, to interact socially with the dynamic populations with agility, and to move flexibly and comfortably as autonomous driving is refined to allow movement at will. In this study, we address the gap of continuous pursuit motion control in BCIs by proposing and validating a brain-inspired Bayesian inference framework, where embodied dynamics in acceleration-based motor representations are decoded. This approach contrasts with conventional kinematics-level decoding and deep learning-based methods. Using a public dataset with sixteen hours of EEG from four subjects performing motor imagery-based target-following, we demonstrate that our method, utilizing Automatic Relevance Determination for feature selection and continual online learning, reduces the normalized mean squared error between predicted and true velocities by 72% compared to autoregressive and EEGNet-based methods in a session-accumulative transfer learning setting. Theoretically, these findings empirically support embodied cognition theory and reveal the brain's intrinsic motor control dynamics in an embodied and predictive nature. Practically, grounding EEG decoding in the same dynamical principles that govern biological motion offers a promising path toward more stable and intuitive BCI control.