Transformer-based ensemble deep learning model for EEG-based emotion recognition

Emotion recognition is one of the most important research directions in the field of brain–computer interface (BCI). However, to conduct electroencephalogram (EEG)-based emotion recognition, there exist difficulties regarding EEG signal processing; moreover, the performance of classification models in this regard is restricted. To counter these issues, the 2022 World Robot Contest successfully held an affective BCI competition, thus promoting the innovation of EEG-based emotion recognition. In this paper, we propose the Transformer-based ensemble (TBEM) deep learning model. TBEM comprises two models: a pure convolutional neural network (CNN) model and a cascaded CNN-Transformer hybrid model. The proposed model won the abovementioned affective BCI competition’s final championship in the 2022 World Robot Contest, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed TBEM deep learning model for EEG-based emotion recognition.