Today I'm writing a list of things I need to measure my emotions in real-time.

My main goal is to create a computer that returns a list of emotions. Each emotion will have a corresponding intensity value (for example, "Sadness: 0.2; Joy: 0.1;").

I want this list to reflect my emotional state not more than one second ago.

I don't know what the initial type (or types) of input the computer needs.

I also don't know what the intermediary technologies I need to use to transform the inputs into the outputs.

I did some research and I've defined my goal.

I'd like to create an EEG.

An EEG stands for Electroencephalography. It's the name of the technology used to record electrical activity produced by a brain. EEGs use sensors, known as electrodes, placed on a person's head/scalp.

These sensors capture the electrical activity produced by the brain.

There is an international standard for capturing brain activity and it's called the 10-20 System. This system uses a grid of sensors placed on specific parts of the scalp to capture activity from different brain regions.

These systems were created to standardize brain activity measurements and help researchers and clinicians compare their results. The standard was designed by neuroscientist Dr. Herbert H. Jasper in 1958 at the Montreal Neurological Institute.

There is another system, the 10-10 System, that uses additional electrodes for more specific measurements.

The 10-20 System uses 21 electrodes while the 10-10 System uses 72 electrodes.

My initial goal is to create 1 wireless electrode. Commercially available EEG devices (OpenBCI's Ganglion Board, ModularEEG, OpenEEG project) are wired. And my goal is to create an EEG that is wearable and invisible. I am NOT going to wear a helmet-looking device with cables sticking out of it. I don't think it looks cool and I also don't want to draw anyone's attention.

I want to measure my brain activity without anyone knowing. I also think it could help me forget that I'm measuring my brain activity so I can go about my day reacting and feeling the way I normally do!

My next step is to build a prototype of one wireless electrode.

What parts and pieces do I need to buy? What software do I need to create to transform tiny electrical signals into data I can wirelessly stream to my computer?