NASA technology helps students, and others focus

Originally developed to identify when pilots were losing focus, neurofeedback techniques have been used by athletes a, including the members of the 2006 World Cup winning soccer team from Italy.

But it's the more than 10 million children in the United States diagnosed with forms of attention deficit disorder, and especially parents looking for alternative treatments to medication that excites Devon Greco, founder of Narbis, maker of a smart glasses system that trains users to focus.

The company reports that initial trials with prototypes provided quick results with four out of five patients who have trained with the glasses reported significant improvement in five or fewer 30-minute trainings.

Major League Baseball has also expressed interest in the tool.

The $690 system consists of the smart glasses and attached sensors, an armband mounted amplifier which communicates with the included tablet via Bluetooth where the NASA sourced algorithm analyzes focus.

Users wear the glasses as they focus on tasks, 2 or 3 times a week for 30 minutes. As the user is distracted, the glasses change tint, providing feedback and incentive to stay focuses.

The glasses never go dark enough to interrupt activity but just enough to alert the user of distraction. “Consistent with the principles of operant conditioning, the darkening acts as a penalty,” says Devon, founder of Narbis and son of clinical psychologist Domenic Greco who has worked with biofeedback therapy since the 1980s.Pre

To help pilots train their attention, NASA Langley researcher Alan Pope invented what he called an engagement index.  Measurements of alpha, beta, and theta brainwaves are analyzed by Pope's algorithm.

Early research showed subjects their engagement level as they performed specified tasks.

The latest smart glasses eliminate the need to spend time training according to Greco. “We brought the training into real life. You’re getting feedback while doing things you’ve got to do anyway.”