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Abstract: The P300 event-related potential (ERP), with advantages of high stability and no need for initial training, is one of the most commonly used responses in brain-computer interface (BCI) applications. The row/column paradigm (RCP) that flashes an entire column or row of a visual matrix has been used successfully to help patients to spell words. However, RCP remains subject to errors that slow down communication, such as adjacency-distraction and double-flash errors. In this paper, a new visual stimulus presentation paradigm called the submatrix-based paradigm (SBP) is proposed. SBP divides a 6×6 matrix into several submatrices. Each submatrix flashes in single cell paradigm (SCP) mode and separately performs an ensemble averaging method according to the sequences. The parameter of sequence number is used to improve further the accuracy and information transfer rate (ITR). SBP has advantages of flexibility in division of the matrix and better expansion capability, which were confirmed with different divisions of the 6×6 matrix and expansion to a 6×9 matrix. Stimulation results show that SBP is superior to RCP in performance and user acceptability.

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