NeuroLytic

Inspiration

One of our team members is a psychology major doing pre-med, so we had the idea to combine engineering with a scientific concept and use hardware to track mental focus.

What it does

Our project is a game that tracks mental fatigue levels based on reaction time and then translates that data into a website that informs the user about their level of focus and suggests ways to improve. We designed this specifically with healthcare workers and individuals who need to stay focused for work in mind.

How we built it

We combined hardware and software in a project to detect cognitive fatigue in healthcare workers. We used an Arduino Elegoo Starter Kit, using 4 LEDs (yellow, red, blue, and green), a push button, an active buzzer, and wires. We had two IDEs for code: the Arduino software to program the microcontroller and other components, and VS Code for the Python implementation that will enable us to put everything together. The VS Code implements a Python code that controls the hardware components through commands. Additionally, we used Streamlit to showcase our game results and helpful resources healthcare workers may need depending on their scores.

Challenges we ran into

We tried implementing the game part into Streamlit; however, it wouldn't support multiple pages, so it stayed stuck on the first trial of the game, being unable to proceed automatically to the next one.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Before trying to implement the game part into Streamlit, we were able to, for the most part, successfully build a working hardware system and code the game as a pop-up through the VS Code IDE.

What we learned

We learned how to combine multiple IDEs and different coding languages into a unique project. We also learned how to efficiently debug and work efficiently through "divide and conquer" - each member worked on something specific to tackle our project.

What's next for NeuroLytic

Going forward, we could integrate a variety of focus games/tests to more accurately read the user's brain function, and it can be used by people from all walks of life. To make it even more advanced, we could incorporate ways to sense moods and more specific personal imbalances.