Latest news with #mentalworkload
Fox News
a day ago
- Health
- Fox News
Researchers develop face 'e-tattoo' to track mental workload in high-stress jobs
Scientists say that they have formulated a way to help people in stressful and demanding work environments track their brainwaves and brain usage — an electronic tattoo device, or "e-tattoo," on the person's face. In a study posted in the science journal Device, the team of researchers wrote that they found e-tattoos to be a more cost-effective and simpler way to track one's mental workload. Dr. Nanshu Lu, the senior author of the research from the University of Texas at Austin, wrote that mental workload is a critical factor in human-in-the-loop systems, directly influencing cognitive performance and decision-making. Lu told Fox News Digital in an email that this device was motivated by high-demand, high-stake jobs such as pilots, air traffic controllers, doctors and emergency dispatchers. Lu also said ER doctors and robot/drone operators can also leverage this technology for training and performance enhancements. One of the goals of this study was to find a way to measure cognitive fatigue in high leverage and mentally straining careers. The e-tattoo is temporarily attached to the subject's forehead, and is smaller than current devices in use today. According to the study, the device works by using electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrooculogram (EOG) to measure both brain waves and eye movements. While most EEG and EOG machines are bulky and expensive, the e-tattoo offers a compact and cost-effective solution. Lu wrote that in this study, "we propose a wireless forehead EEG and EOG sensor designed to be as thin and conformable to the skin as a temporary tattoo sticker, which is referred to as a forehead e-tattoo." Lu also added that "human mental workload is a crucial factor in the fields of human-machine interaction and ergonomics due to its direct impact on human cognitive performance." The way the study was conducted was with six participants being shown a screen on which 20 letters flashed up, one at a time, at various locations. Participants were asked to click a mouse if either the letter itself, or its location, matched one shown a given number of letters. Each participant carried out the task multiple times, corresponding to four levels of difficulty. The team found that as the tasks became harder, the different types of brainwaves detected showed shifts in activity that corresponded to a higher mental workload response. The device consists of a battery pack and reusable chips with a disposable sensor. Lu said that the device is currently a lab prototype. "Before it can be ready for commercialization, it will need more development, such as real-time, on-tattoo mental workload decoding and validation on more people and in more realistic environments," she said. "The prototype currently costs $200."
The Independent
3 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
E-tattoo could help you work harder – or slow down if you're too stressed
An electronic ' tattoo ' that can track when your brain is working too hard – or not hard enough- has been developed by researchers. The wearable tech is a non-permanent wireless forehead e-tattoo that can decode brainwaves and measure mental strain. Researchers hope this technology will be able to track the mental workload of truck drivers and traffic controllers, whose lapses in focus can have serious consequences. Humans have an 'optimal mental workload' which differs from person to person, said Nanshu Lu, the study's author, from the University of Texas at Austin. "Technology is developing faster than human evolution. Our brain capacity cannot keep up and can easily get overloaded," he said. However, there is a mental sweet spot where humans are neither overwhelmed nor bored and finding a balance is key to optimal performance. This e-tattoo analyses brain activity and eye movement in processes known as electroencephalography (EEG) and electrooculography (EOG). But unlike other bulky EEG caps, which monitor brain activity, this e-tattoo is wireless and paper thin and just has a small battery pack. In a study published in the Cell Press journal Device, the e-tattoo was tested on six participants who completed a memory test that increased in difficulty. As the participant's mental load rose they showed higher activity in theta and delta brainwaves, signalling increased cognitive demand, while alpha and beta activity decreased, indicating mental fatigue – showing the device can reveal when the brain is struggling. Currently the best way of measuring mental workload is the Nasa Task Load Index. This questionnaire is used by workers, such as astronauts after completing a task. But the e-tattoo can deliver continuous real-time data. It's also cheaper than current devices. Researchers say EEG equipment can exceed $15,000, while the e-tattoo's chips and battery pack costs $200, and disposable sensors are about $20 each. 'Being low cost makes the device accessible,' said author Luis Sentis from UT Austin. 'One of my wishes is to turn the e-tattoo into a product we can wear at home.' But currently the e-tattoo only works on hairless skin and researchers are working to make sensors that work on hair. This will allow for full head coverage and more comprehensive brain monitoring, study authors said. As robots and new technology increasingly enter workplaces and homes, the team hopes this technology will enhance understanding of human-machine interaction. 'We've long monitored workers' physical health, tracking injuries and muscle strain,' said Sentis. 'Now we have the ability to monitor mental strain, which hasn't been tracked. This could fundamentally change how organisations ensure the overall well-being of their workforce.'
Medscape
3 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
Wireless Face e-Tattoo Tracks Mental Strain and Workload
A temporary electronic forehead tattoo that wirelessly measures brainwaves and eye movement may offer an accurate measurement of mental workload (MWL) and mental strain, new research suggested. E-tattoo to track mental workload in real time Using a lightweight battery and thin sensors, the e-tattoo was able to reliably collect electroencephalography (EEG) and electrooculography (EOG) data to estimate MWL in a small study of six participants as they completed increasingly difficult memory tests. The technology is a less bulky and cheaper alternative to conventional brain activity monitors and may help track the mental workload of workers in safety-critical jobs like aviation, air traffic control, and healthcare. Researchers say it also has applications for neurological monitoring of patients with epilepsy or to monitor cognitive decline. 'Our wireless electronic tattoo stands out for its ultrathin, skin-conformal design, which allows for stable EEG/EOG signal acquisition even during dynamic activities like walking or facial movements,' investigator Nanshu Lu, PhD, professor and chair of engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, told Medscape Medical News . 'Unlike other platforms like headbands or glasses, our tattoo is helmet-compatible, low-profile, and uses low-cost disposable materials, making it uniquely suitable for real-world deployment.' The findings were published online on May 29 in the journal Device . Study Details and Performance There is no universally accepted definition of MWL, but it can generally be described as the degree to which a person's working memory capacity and cognitive processes are engaged by an ongoing task, the authors noted. MWL levels can be assessed using subjective self-assessment questionnaires like the post-task NASA Task Load Index, as well as physiological measures such as heart rate, galvanic skin response, EEG, and EOG. The wireless e-tattoo features stretchable serpentine-shaped, graphite-deposited polyurethane electrodes coated with an adhesive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly-styrene sulfonate composite to reduce impedance and improve adhesion to the skin. The e-tattoo is integrated with a battery-powered flexible printed circuit that transmits EEG and EOG data in real-time via Bluetooth Low Energy. To evaluate the e-tattoo efficacy, the researchers analyzed EEG and EOG signals collected on six healthy participants wearing the wireless forehead e-tattoo during cognitive tasks designed to measure working memory, called dual N-back tasks. Self-assessment using the NASA–Task Load Index, task performance metrics, and physiological features were also collected. Each participant completed a single experiment session lasting approximately 2.5 hours, which included three runs of N-back trials. 'This single-session design was sufficient to train individualized models, although variability between participants was observed, especially in the relative importance of EEG vs EGO features,' Lu said. As the cognitive workload increased, frontal delta- and theta-band powers increased, while alpha-, beta-, and gamma-band powers decreased. The authors noted this is in line with studies linking theta-band power to an increase in working memory load and increasing MWL with a decrease in alpha power and increase in frontal theta power. To test the viability of mental workload estimation using the e-tattoo, the researchers then built a random forest model to predict the level of mental workload experienced by participants during the N -back tasks. They found that the model successfully estimated the mental workload for all N levels for all six participants. 'Key findings of our study show that the wireless forehead e-tattoo reliably captures forehead EEG and EOG signals, and these signals can be used to accurately estimate mental workload during a dual N-back task, which is a widely used standard mental workload test,' Lu said. 'Our model achieved robust classification of cognitive load levels using only minimally processed physiological data.' The Road Ahead For forehead EEG/EOG–driven workload detection, the e-tattoo system is already self-sufficient but integration with other physiological sensors such as heart rate or galvanic skin response could improve accuracy and robustness in mental workload vs mental stress differentiation, Lu noted. 'In medical settings, this technology could be very useful for neurological monitoring, including early detection of cognitive decline, noninvasive epilepsy tracking, and assessing patient engagement during neurorehabilitation,' she said. 'Its comfort and unobtrusiveness make it especially appealing for pediatric or geriatric use.' The temporary e-tattoo also holds a cost advantage over traditional EEG systems, with the e-tattoo chips and battery pack priced at $200 and disposable sensors about $20 each. 'Being low-cost makes the device accessible,' study co-author Luis Sentis, PhD, also from The University of Texas at Austin, said in a news release. 'One of my wishes is to turn the e-tattoo into a product we can wear at home.' Currently, the e-tattoo works only on hairless skin but the researchers are working to combine it with ink-based sensors that work on hair. For this new study, Lu also noted that EEG signals were postprocessed and the predictions done offline. 'To make this technology really valuable, we can and need to achieve real-time mental workload assessment and provide timely micro-interventions, such as visual or audio alerts on the phone or even electro tactile stimulations applied to the skin by the e-tattoo before performance decline or burnout occurs,' she said. 'Evaluating these micro-interventions in real-world applications may prove our EEG system's capacity to significantly improve human-AI collaborations,' Sentis told Medscape Medical News .
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
‘E-tattoo' could track mental workload for people in high-stake jobs, study says
Whether it is doing sums or working out what to text your new date, some tasks produce a furrowed brow. Now scientists say they have come up with a device to monitor such effort: an electronic tattoo, stuck to the forehead. The researchers say the device could prove valuable among pilots, healthcare workers and other professions where managing mental workload is crucial to preventing catastrophes. 'For this kind of high-demand and high-stake scenario, eventually we hope to have this real-time mental workload decoder that can give people some warning and alert so that they can self-adjust, or they can ask AI or a co-worker to offload some of their work,' said Dr Nanshu Lu, an author of the research from the University of Texas at Austin, adding the device may not only help workers avoid serious mistakes but also protect their health. Writing in the journal Device, Lu and colleagues describe how using questionnaires to investigate mental workload is problematic, not least as people are poor at objectively judging cognitive effort and they are usually conducted after a task. Meanwhile, existing electroencephalography (EEG) and electrooculography (EOG) devices, that can be used to assess mental workload by measuring brain waves and eye movements respectively, are wired, bulky and prone to erroneous measurements arising from movements. By contrast, the 'e-tattoo' is a lightweight, flexible, wireless device. The black, wiggly path of the e-tattoo is composed of a graphite-based conductive material, and is attached to the forehead using conductive adhesive film. Four square EEG electrodes, positioned on the forehead, each detect a different region of brain activity – with a reference electrode behind the ear – while rectangular EOG electrodes, placed vertically and horizontally around the eyes, provide data about eye movements. Each of the stretchable electrodes is coated in an additional conductive material. The e-tattoo, which is bespoke and disposable, is connected to a reusable flexible printed circuit using conductive tape, while a lightweight battery can be clipped to the device. After finding the e-tattoo worked as well as traditional EEG and EOG devices for monitoring brain waves and eye movements the team tested the technology on six participants. Each participant was shown a screen on which 20 letters flashed up, one at a time, at various locations. Participants were asked to click a mouse if either the letter itself, or its location, matched one shown a given number of letters (N) back. Each participant carried out the task multiple times, with the N value varying between 0 and 3 – corresponding to four levels of difficulty. The team found that as the task became harder, the different types of brainwave detected showed shifts in activity that corresponded to a greater mental workload. The team then fed the EEG and EOG data, together with the 'N' numbers, into a machine-learning algorithm. After a training period, the researchers found the algorithm did better than chance at predicting the mental workload of a participant based on their EEG and EOG data alone. Lu said the full device –including chip and battery – was expected to cost less than $200 (£148). The team are now developing the approach so signals can be decoded by the device's microprocessor and sent to an app to alert the user if their mental workload is too high. But the remedy is not, necessarily, to switch to a simple task. 'Previous studies indicated that the optimal mental performance occurs when the mental workload demand is not too low or too high,' said Lu. 'When it's too low, it's very boring, and the people will just lose focus.'
