Analysis of Stress from Playing a Firefighter Simulator using EEG Signals

Due to the environments they are regularly exposed to, firefighters often experience high levels of stress while on duty. Left untreated, excessive stress can be detrimental to one's health. Hence, it is important to assess the levels of stress that firefighters experience to help prevent harmful long-term health effects. In this study, EEG was used to measure a subject's stress levels while they played a firefighter simulation game on PC. The game simulates a similar environment to what firefighters would typically experience, ideally inducing a certain amount of stress. The collected readings were then compared with EEG data gathered before and after the game was played. The EEG collected during this procedure is analyzed in MATLAB and the ensuing results were compared with one another. The experiment concluded that a suitable amount of stress was induced by playing the firefighting simulator.