Here we present an overview of some published papers of interest for the marketing research employing electroencephalogram (EEG) and magnetoencephalogram (MEG) methods. The interest for these methodologies relies in their high-temporal resolution as opposed to the investigation of such problem with the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) methodology, also largely used in the marketing research. In addition, EEG and MEG technologies have greatly improved their spatial resolution in the last decades with the introduction of advanced signal processing methodologies. By presenting data gathered through MEG and high resolution EEG we will show which kind of information it is possible to gather with these methodologies while the persons are watching marketing relevant stimuli. Such information will be related to the memorization and pleasantness related to such stimuli. We noted that temporal and frequency patterns of brain signals are able to provide possible descriptors conveying information about the cognitive and emotional processes in subjects observing commercial advertisements. These information could be unobtainable through common tools used in standard marketing research. We also show an example of how an EEG methodology could be used to analyze cultural differences between fruition of video commercials of carbonated beverages in Western and Eastern countries.

Driving tasks are vulnerable to the effects of sleep deprivation and mental fatigue, diminishing driver's ability to respond effectively to unusual or emergent situations. Physiological and brain activity analysis could help to understand how to provide useful feedback and alert signals to the drivers for avoiding car accidents. In this study we analyze the insurgence of mental fatigue or drowsiness during car driving in a simulated environment by using high resolution EEG techniques as well as neurophysiologic variables such as heart rate (HR) and eye blinks rate (EBR). Results suggest that it is possible to introduce a EEG-based cerebral workload index that it is sensitive to the mental efforts of the driver during drive tasks of different levels of difficulty. Workload index was based on the estimation of increase of EEG power spectra in the theta band over prefrontal areas and the simultaneous decrease of EEG power spectra over parietal areas in alpha band during difficult drive conditions. Such index could be used in a future to assess on-line the mental state of the driver during the drive task.

Solar steam generation and adsorption, as promising technologies to tackle water pollution, have gained increasing research interest in recent years. In this paper, 3D spherical carbonized platanus fruit with special surface topology and inner interconnected porous structure is used as a superior solar evaporator and an adsorbent for dye removal with easy separation from treated water. The dual‐functional material with single component is prepared by a simply carbonizing biowaste platanus fruit. A high evaporation rate up to 2.00 kg m−2 h−1 under one sun is achieved by 3D spherical evaporator. 3D evaporator also presents outstanding water evaporation under low light intensity, angle‐independent water evaporation, and long‐term cycling stability. Importantly, high‐capacity dye adsorption and generation of purified water are simultaneously achieved with the assistance of solar‐driven evaporation under one sun. Thus, the monolithic, dual‐functional 3D material with a simple preparation process, low cost, mechanical robustness, and environmental friendliness has great potential for solar steam generation and solar water evaporation‐assisted adsorption. This study proposes a simple route to design 3D solar evaporators with surface topology and innovatively provides a high‐efficiency method for tackling water pollution.

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