BrainWave

Inspiration

We came up with an idea to create an app that could send messages to an uncommunicative person using nerve signals. Kirian was a pioneer in the idea due to her mom’s dad, who has been in the hospital for the last six weeks, and he doesn't recognize the people he should know. With her personal experience, we all recognized the impact on both parties: the loved one and the person living with a debilitating condition. Not only is one's mental, physical, and emotional state affected for both roles, but also their senses. With the person with a disability, we concluded that there could be a loss of proprioception (the body's way of perceiving itself), which impacts one's sensory experience. We wondered if there was a way for a person living with a debilitating condition to still have a full sensory experience through their own perspective and for their loved one to still feel connected to them. While in real life, there isn't yet a solution, but with our imagination, we created Brainwave to tackle our problem!

What it does

Our team is able to help give loved ones their senses back in full-swing, as well as fostering relationships between family members as they adjust to their new lifestyle. This is done by influencing and emphasizing the sense of proprioception. Proprioception is one of the most important aspects of feeling present in the moment. It's the body's automatic ability to perceive its own position, movement, and force in 3D space without visual input. BrainWave emphasizes this sensory experience within our technology to better integrate the recipient/incapacitated user into their memory. Resulting in the ability to feel as though they are there in person. BrainWave allows the user to upload images and messages that convert them into nerve signals, sending the content into the person’s brain. This technology allows their loved one to have a full sensory experience of an event even if they weren’t physically there.

How we built it

We began by answering questions regarding the focus of our project, which helped us formulate our problem statement. We then created a survey to gather user insights, which helped us determine if our problem is shared and identify areas where needs can be met. With our collected data, we proceeded to brainstorm solutions to address the user's concerns. After that, we developed three use cases that guided us in creating the app requirements. We then used these requirements to request a prototype from Figma Make. After reviewing the generated prototype, we incorporated some ideas and created our own version!

Challenges we ran into

One of the major challenges we ran into during the process was how we can implement an ultra safe environment for users. On our survey, 50% of users voiced concerns about privacy and security. To address this, we decided to add a 2 factor authentication (2FA) and consent toggles to the app. With the 2FA, users will need to sign up and sign in using an email address and a code sent to their phone number. Sending a memory also requires a code for it to be sent to the loved one, as well as toggles indicating if the memory is not safe for work (NSFW) or if it contains graphic content. Another challenge was about how we can keep the autonomy of the recipient present. There could be an issue that arises, such as the recipient doesn't want to be on the app due to it impacting their emotional state. Another could be the recipient wants to only experience a certain type of memory, or dislikes some experiences. To preserve autonomy, we developed a proposition where BrainWave would read the recipient's brain activity and see whether it responds positively or negatively to the experience. With this, recipients can also send a message back through the neural signals. Users will be notified if their loved one wants to experience more or less of something. It's very important for us to consider both sides and come up with ethical solutions to benefit both!

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Our group has achieved multiple goal-posts that we're all incredibly proud of. As later mentioned below, something we were excited and proud of was our collaboration across 3 timezones with a large difference between each one (IST, PST, EST). Additionally, we were proud of our ability to focus in on our project and develop a fully curated story that appealed to nearly every person we pitched it to, prior to submission. Our case studies felt rounded out and personable, even though they were complete hypotheticals and not stories provided by our crowd-surveys.

What we learned

Throughout the last 4 days, our group has learned a plethora of new skills we can continue to implement in future projects both team based and individual. We were all introduced to FigBuild with minimal knowledge on Figma products such as FigJam/Figma Make/Figma. Using these programs over the weekend has encouraged our creativity through a unique prompt, allowing us to think outside of our boxes and learn new techniques within Figma products. Additionally, our group bettered our skills on crowd surveys and how to properly apply our data in a way that paints a story behind our prototype. Finally, a core skill our group learned, was team design work across 3 different timezones and having never previously met prior to this hack-a-thon. While difficult at times, we learned how to communicate better amongst one another and properly plan out and strategize our game plan for the weekend. Overall, the four of us came out of this competition with new professional skills, and we're excited to share with peers and in future projects!

What's next for BrainWave

There are so many avenues to explore when it comes to transcending the traditional way of having an experience. There are so many avenues to explore when it comes to transcending the traditional way of having an experience. We believe that our next step within BrainWave is to extend our service past just the realms of healthcare, and push it to become a world-wide sensation. So many people are separated by distance, whether it's due to finances, schooling, or wanting new experiences, it's incredibly hard to be away from the people you love. A good portion of our crowd-survey also suggested that this would be an application they would use now, even if they do not have an incapacitated loved one, solely to connect with family members that are far away.