Hardware Setup Ensures You're Paying Attention
This project combines EEG readings with eye tracking to see if you're paying attention to the text.
When reading a book, you may find yourself going through a few paragraphs or even pages, then immediately wondering what exactly you read. It’s interesting that our brains can do this, but realistically it’s not usually what you want, especially if studying for an exam or the like. To help keep your brain (or others?) on track, hacker “I made this” created “A program that could tell if you are paying attention.”
His setup uses eye tracking in order to sense what words on a page that you're viewing. It correlates this position data with input from a brainwave sensor. The sensor was harvested from a Star Wars toy, and data is passed along via an Arduino clone.
While this hacker wasn’t that impressed with the toy itself, the NeuroSky EEG chip inside is able to output a value for a meditative state, as well as a paying attention value that was used here. The program highlights text green for, “yes, you did attention,” and red for “looking, but not actively processing.”
The obvious application is to help students keep from mentally slacking off. Other more invasive applications could include ensuring that yes, you did actually read and absorb that 40-page software TOS, or even pausing advertisements to ensure companies get the most out of their marketing dollars! Fortunately, the video only reveals a quick overview of the code, as supposedly “nobody really cares,” potentially preserving our sacred right to zone out when needed.