Athanasios (Thanos) Vourvopoulos

I serve as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), University of Lisbon, and a Principal Researcher at the Institute for Systems and Robotics (ISR-Lisboa)/LaSEEB. My research sits at the intersection of biomedical engineering, neuroscience, computer science, and human-machine interaction, with a focus on closed-loop neurotechnologies, including non-invasive brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), neurofeedback, and neuromodulation. I integrate these technologies with virtual environments and robotic platforms to support treatment of neurological disorders and promote long-term improvements in health outcomes, autonomy, and quality of life. This work has been recognized with several grants and awards, including the "Best Early Career Award" from the International Society for Virtual Rehabilitation (ISVR).

Athanasios (Thanos) Vourvopoulos

Academic Degree:

Ph.D.

Email:

thanos@isr.tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Personal Page:

https://fenix.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/homepage/ist428516

Nationality:

FCT:

J599111gy6pa

ORCID:

0000-0001-9676-8599

CienciaID:

5813-A481-A9D3

Google Scholar:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5jDo_MUAAAAJ&hl=en

[1] NOISyS – Neuroadaptive Systems for Brain Restoration based on Virtual-Reality and Brain-Computer Interfaces – 249 549,77 [2023-03-01; 2027-02-28]

[1] NEURONAUT – Advancing Non-Invasive Neural Interfaces for Unobtrusive Astronaut-System Interaction – 49 286,00 [2027-01-01; 2029-12-31]

[2] MIG_N2Treat – Multimodal neuroimaging biomarkers throughout the migraine cycle: towards neurofeedback training for personalized anti-migraine treatment – FCT [2018-06; 2022-05]

[1] Madalena Valente, Diogo Branco, S. Bermúdez i Badia, Jean-Claude Fernandes, Patrícia Figueiredo, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “EEG-based predictors of motor recovery during immersive VR-BCI rehabilitation”, Scientific Reports, Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2026

[2] DanielaEsteves, Katarina Vagaja, Alexandre Andrade , Athanasios Vourvopoulos “When embodiment matters most: a confirmatory study on VR priming in motor imagery brain-computer interfaces training”, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 19, Frontiers Media SA, 2025

[3] Pietro Stabile, Neil Mehta, Inês Gonçalves, Andrea Farabbi, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Pulkit Grover, Patrícia Figueiredo “Deep Learning Prediction of BOLD-fMRI Signals from Simultaneous EEG During Motor Imagery”, 2025 33rd European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO), pp. 1025-1029, IEEE, 2025

[4] DanielaEsteves, Mariarosaria Valente, Shay Bendor, Alexandre Andrade , Athanasios Vourvopoulos “Identifying EEG biomarkers of sense of embodiment in virtual reality: insights from spatio-spectral features”, Frontiers in Neuroergonomics, vol. 6, Frontiers Media SA, 2025

[5] Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Evangelos Georgaras “Physiological assessment of brain, cardiovascular, and respiratory changes in multimodal motor imagery brain-computer interface training”, Research in Biomedical Engineering and Technology, 12(1), 2025

[6] Shay Bendor, DanielaEsteves, Mariarosaria Valente, Patrícia Figueiredo, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “Understanding the Impact of True vs. Positive VR Feedback on EEG Features and BCI Performance”, 2025 IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and eXtended and Virtual Reality (AIxVR), pp. 90-97, IEEE, 2025

[7] Luis Eudave, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “Multimodal mapping of spatial attention for unilateral spatial neglect in VR: a proof of concept study using eye-tracking and mobile EEG”, Virtual Reality, vol. 29, no. 1, Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2025

[8] Tianhao He, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Michail Giannakos “Democratizing EEG: Embedding Electroencephalography in a Head-Mounted Display for Ubiquitous Brain-Computer Interfacing”, International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 2024

[9] Rodrigo Vieira, Plinio Moreno, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “EEG-based action anticipation in human-robot interaction: a comparative pilot study”, Front Neurorobot, 2024

[10] Rodrigo Vieira, Plinio Moreno, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “EEG-based action anticipation in human-robot interaction: a comparative pilot study”, Frontiers in Neurorobotics, vol. 18, Frontiers Media SA, 2024

[11] Monica Afonso, Sanchez-Cuesta, Francisco, Yeray González-Zamorano, Juan Pablo Romero, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “Investigating the synergistic neuromodulation effect of bilateral rTMS and VR brain-computer interfaces training in chronic stroke patients”, J. Neural Eng. 21 056037, 2024

[12] Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Mathis Fleury, Diego Blanco-Mora, Jean Claude-Fernandes , Patrícia Figueiredo, Sergi i Badia “Brain imaging and clinical outcome of embodied VR-BCI training in chronic stroke patients: a longitudinal pilot study”, Brain-Computer Interfaces, 11(4), 193–209., 2024

[13] Evangelos Niforatos, Tianhao He, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Michail Giannakos “Democratizing EEG: Embedding Electroencephalography in a Head-Mounted Display for Ubiquitous Brain-Computer Interfacing”, International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 1–25, 2024

[14] Francisco Cuesta, Yeray González-Zamorano, Marcos Moreno-Verdú, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, José Ignacio Serrano, Maria Del Castillo-Sobrino, Patrícia Figueiredo, Juan Romero “Effects of motor imagery-based neurofeedback training after bilateral repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on post-stroke upper limb motor function: an exploratory crossover clinical trial”, Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 56, jrm18253, 2024

[15] Katarina Vagaja, Klaus Linkenkaer-Hansen, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “Avatar embodiment prior to motor imagery training in VR does not affect the induced event-related desynchronization: a pilot study”, Front. Virtual Real. 4:1265010, 2024

[16] Katarina Vagaja, Klaus Linkenkaer-Hansen, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “Avatar embodiment prior to motor imagery training in VR does not affect the induced event-related desynchronization: a pilot study”, Frontiers in Virtual Reality, vol. 4, Frontiers Media SA, 2024

[17] Mathis Fleury, Patrícia Figueiredo, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Anatole Lécuyer “Two is better? Combining EEG and fMRI for BCI and neurofeedback: a systematic review”, A. Journal of Neural Engineering. 10 2023, 2023

[18] João Nunes , Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Diego Blanco-Mora, Carolina Jorge, Jean Claude-Fernandes , Sergi i Badia , Patrícia Figueiredo “Brain activation by a VR-based motor imagery and observation task: An fMRI study”, 2023 – PDF

[19] Athanasios Vavoulis, Patrícia Figueiredo, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “A Review of Online Classification Performance in Motor Imagery-Based Brain-Computer Interfaces for Stroke Neurorehabilitation”, Signals 2023, Vol. 4, Pages 73-86, 4(1):73-86, Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2023

[20] Gustavo Caetano, Inês Esteves, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Mathis Fleury, Patrícia Figueiredo “NeuXus open-source tool for real-time artifact reduction in simultaneous EEG-fMRI”, NeuroImage, pp. 120353, 2023

[21] Gustavo Caetano, Inês Esteves, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Mathis Fleury, Patrícia Figueiredo “NeuXus open-source tool for real-time artifact reduction in simultaneous EEG-fMRI”, NeuroImage, vol. 280, pp. 120353, Elsevier BV, 2023

[22] Diogo Batista, Gustavo Caetano, Mathis Fleury, Patrícia Figueiredo, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “Effect of head-mounted virtual reality and vibrotactile feedback in ERD during motor imagery Brain–computer interface training”, Brain-Computer Interfaces, 2023

[23] Andrea Farabbi, Patrícia Figueiredo, Fabiola Ghiringhelli, Luca Mainardi, João Sanches, Plinio Moreno, José Santos-Victor, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “Investigating the impact of visual perspective in a motor imagery-based brain-robot interaction: A pilot study with healthy participants”, Frontiers in Neuroergonomics, Sec. Neurotechnology and Systems Neuroergonomics Volume 4 – 2023, 2023

[24] Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Patrícia Figueiredo, S. Bermúdez i Badia “Impact of age, VR, immersion, and spatial resolution on classifier performance for a MI-based BCI”, Brain-Computer Interfaces, 2022

[25] Aida Arroyo-Ferrer, Francisco José Sánchez-Cuesta, Yeray González-Zamorano, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Sergi i Badia , Patrícia Figueiredo, José Ignacio Serrano, Juan Pablo Romero “Clinical Effects of Immersive Multimodal BCI-VR Training after Bilateral Neuromodulation with rTMS on Upper Limb Motor Recovery after Stroke. A Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial”, Medicina 2021, 57(8), 736, July, 2021

[26] Yeray González-Zamorano, Josué Fernández-Carnero, Francisco José Sánchez-Cuesta, Aida Arroyo-Ferrer, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Patrícia Figueiredo, José Ignacio Serrano, Juan Pablo Romero “New Approaches Based on Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation and Mental Representation Techniques Targeting Pain in Parkinson’s Disease Patients: Two Study Protocols for Two Randomized Controlled Trials”, Brain Sciences, Vol. 11, Issue 1, 65, January, 2021

[27] Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Simon Legeay, Patrícia Figueiredo “NeuXus: A Biosignal Processing and Classification Pipeline for Real-Time Brain-Computer Interaction”, 2020

[28] J. Juliano, R. Spicer, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, S. Lefebvre, K. Jann, T. Ard, E. Santarnecchi, D. Krum, S.-L. Liew “Embodiment Is Related to Better Performance on a Brain–Computer Interface in Immersive Virtual Reality: A Pilot Study”, Sensors 2020, 20(4), 1204, February, 2020

[29] Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Rodolfo Abreu, Patrícia Figueiredo, S. Bermúdez i Badia “Efficacy and Brain Imaging Correlates of an Immersive Motor Imagery BCI-driven VR System for Upper Limb Motor Rehabilitation: A Clinical Case Report”, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2019

No publications found for author “cap-athanasiosvourvopoulos”

[1] Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Evangelos Niforatos, S. Bermúdez i Badia, Fotis Liarokapis “Brain–Computer Interfacing with Interactive Systems—Case Study 2”, Intelligent Computing for Interactive System Design: Statistics, Digital Signal Processing, and Machine Learning in Practice, pp. 237 – 272, 2021

[2] Floriana Accoto, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Afonso Goncalves, Teresa Bucho, Gina Caetano, Patrícia Figueiredo, Paolo De Paolis, S. Bermúdez i Badia “The Effect of Neurofeedback Training in CAVE-VR for Enhancing Working Memory”, In: Dingler T., Niforatos E. (eds) Technology-Augmented Perception and Cognition. Human–Computer Interaction Series. Springer, Cham, 2021

[1] Madalena Valente, InesOliveira, Jean-Claude Fernandes, Carla Pereira, Ana Isabel Almeida, Patrícia Figueiredo, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “Neural and Clinical Variability in Immersive VR–BCI Training: A Case-Series Study with Stroke Patients”, 10th Graz Brain-Computer Interface Conference 2026, Graz, Austria, 2026

[2] JoanaSaraiva, DanielaEsteves, Christel Bour, Maria Sofia Fernandes, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “Combining Virtual Reality Feedback and Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation to Enhance Restorative Brain-Computer Interfaces”, 10th Graz Brain-Computer Interface Conference 2026, Graz, Austria, 2026

[3] DanielaEsteves, Marta Vasconcelos, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “Proteus Effect in VR-Based BCI: How Avatar Age Influences Motor Imagery Behavior and EEG”, 10th Graz Brain-Computer Interface Conference 2026, Graz, Austria, volume_number_pages, 2026

[4] Afonso Araújo, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Alexandre Bernardino “STAR-eX: A Student-Teacher Assistive Rehabilitation Exoskeleton for Post-Stroke Mirror Therapy Hand Hemiplegia”, 47th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2025

[5] Daniela Esteves, Madalena Valente, Shay Bendor, Alexandre Andrade , Athanasios Vourvopoulos “Identifying EEG biomarkers of sense of embodiment in virtual reality: insights from spatio-spectral features”, 2025

[6] Shay Bendor, Daniela Esteves, Madalena Valente, Patrícia Figueiredo, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “Understanding the Impact of True vs. Positive VR Feedback on EEG Features and BCI Performance”, IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and eXtended and Virtual Reality (AIxVR), Lisbon, Portugal, 2025, pp. 90-97, 2025

[7] Daniela Esteves, Alexandre Andrade , Athanasios Vourvopoulos “EEG Biomarkers of VR Embodiment in BCI training”, 5th International Neuroergonomics Conference, Bordeaux, France, 2024

[8] Madalena Valente, Diego Blanco-Mora, Jean Claude-Fernandes , S. Bermúdez i Badia, Patrícia Figueiredo, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “Stroke patient-specific Mu Event-Related Desynchronization during Motor Imagery and Observation in a VR-based BCI intervention”, World Congress on Virtual Rehabilitation, Amsterdam, 2024

[9] Athanasios Vourvopoulos, D. Blanco-Mora, A. Aldridge, C. Jorge, J-C. Fernandes, Patrícia Figueiredo, S. Bermúdez i Badia “Longitudinal Intervention of VR-based BCI Training: A Case Study of Chronic Stroke Patients”, BCI Meeting , 2023

[10] Athanasios Vourvopoulos, D. Blanco-Mora, A. Aldridge, C. Jorge, Patrícia Figueiredo, S. Bermúdez i Badia “Enhancing Motor-Imagery Brain-Computer Interface Training With Embodied Virtual Reality: A Pilot Study With Older Adults”, Proc. of MetroXRAINE 2022 – IEEE International Conference on Metrology for Extended Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Neural Engineering, Rome, Italy, 2022

[11] Mathis Fleury, Gustavo Caetano, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Inês Esteves, Patrícia Figueiredo “Comparison of Alpha Power obtained with Online vs Offline artifact correction for Real-time EEG/fMRI Neurofeedback”, rtFIN 2022 , New Haven, Yale, United States., 2022 – PDF

[12] Simon Legeay, Gustavo Caetano, Patrícia Figueiredo, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “NeuXus: A Biosignal Processing and Classification Pipeline for Real-Time Brain-Computer Interaction”, Proc. of MELECON 2022 – IEEE 21st Mediterranean Electrotechnical Conference, Palermo, Italy, 2022

[13] D. Blanco-Mora, A. Aldridge, C. Jorge, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Patrícia Figueiredo, S. Bermúdez i Badia “Finding the Optimal Time Window for Increased Classification Accuracy during Motor Imagery”, Proceedings of the 14th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies – Volume 1: BIODEVICES, 144-151, 2021, 2021

[14] E. Niforatos, A.Palma, R. Gluszny, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, F. Liarokapis “Would you do it?: Enacting Moral Dilemmas in Virtual Reality for Understanding Ethical Decision-Making”, Proc. of CHI 2020 – Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Association for Computing Machinery, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 2020 – PDF

[15] Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Evangelos Niforatos, Michail Giannakos “EEGlass: An EEG-Eyeware Prototype for Ubiquitous Brain-Computer Interaction”, UbiComp/ISWC 2019, London, United Kigdom, 2019

[16] Teresa Bucho, Gina Caetano, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Floriana Accoto, Ines Esteves, S. Bermúdez i Badia, Agostinho Rosa, Patrícia Figueiredo “Comparison of Visual and Auditory Modalities for Upper-Alpha EEG-Neurofeedback”, Proc. 41st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC 2019), 2019

No publications found for author “cap-athanasiosvourvopoulos”

[1] Evangelos Niforatos, Tianhao He, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Michail Giannakos “Democratizing EEG: Embedding Electroencephalography in a Head-Mounted Display for Ubiquitous Brain-Computer Interfacing”, International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 1–25, 2024

[2] Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Mathis Fleury, Luca Tonin, Serafeim Perdikis “Editorial: Neurotechnologies and Brain-Computer Interaction for Neurorehabilitation”, Front. Neuroergonomics, 22 June 2023 Sec. Neurotechnology and Systems Neuroergonomics Volume 4 – 2023, 2023

[3] Fotis Liarokapis, Sebastian von Mammen, Athanasios Vourvopoulos “Advanced multimodal interaction techniques and user interfaces for serious games and virtual environments”, Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces 2021 15:3, 2021

[4] Felix Putze, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Anatole Lécuyer, Dean Krusienski, S. Bermúdez i Badia, Timothy Mullen, Christian Herff “Editorial: Brain-Computer Interfaces and Augmented/Virtual Reality”, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 14:144, May, 2020

No publications found for author “cap-athanasiosvourvopoulos”

[1] Evangelos Niforatos, Tianhao He, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Michail Giannakos "Democratizing EEG: Embedding Electroencephalography in a Head-Mounted Display for Ubiquitous Brain-Computer Interfacing", International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 1–25, 2024

[2] Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Mathis Fleury, Luca Tonin, Serafeim Perdikis "Editorial: Neurotechnologies and Brain-Computer Interaction for Neurorehabilitation", Front. Neuroergonomics, 22 June 2023 Sec. Neurotechnology and Systems Neuroergonomics Volume 4 - 2023, 2023

[3] Fotis Liarokapis, Sebastian von Mammen, Athanasios Vourvopoulos "Advanced multimodal interaction techniques and user interfaces for serious games and virtual environments", Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces 2021 15:3, 2021

[4] Felix Putze, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Anatole Lécuyer, Dean Krusienski, S. Bermúdez i Badia, Timothy Mullen, Christian Herff "Editorial: Brain-Computer Interfaces and Augmented/Virtual Reality", Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 14:144, May, 2020