‘Brainbeat’ lets students know when their concentration is drifting
Coláiste Mhuire Transition Year students Adas Butkus, Riley Thornton, and Sam Byrne have developed a clever solution for students who find their minds wandering during study sessions: a focus-assist wristband titled ‘Brainbeat’.
Designed with the tagline “small cues, big results”, the wearable device is intended to help individuals with ADHD or general concentration difficulties stay tethered to their tasks through haptic feedback.
Adas Butkus explained that the wristband acts as a silent coach, noting that if the sensor “senses that they’re using their phone or they’re fidgeting, they’ll give them a slight vibration”. He was quick to clarify that the sensation is a gentle nudge rather than anything painful, laughing that “it’s just a little vibration – not an electric shock”.
The inspiration for the project came from the team’s own observations of the classroom environment. Riley Thornton noted that many students aren’t even aware when they have drifted off-task or started fidgeting until a teacher points it out.
“We always just kind of wish that there was something or another way that we could know that we’re fidgeting just to get us back on track,” Riley said, “so that’s how we came up with Brainbeat.”
By automating this awareness, the students hope to give their peers more autonomy over their own study habits.
The technical side of the prototype relies on Python code and Micro:bit technology to detect specific physical movements. Sam Byrne described the mechanism, explaining that “if you move it from side to side, or you shake it, it’ll do the buzz, and it’ll just warn you and tell you that you need to get back on track”.
While the current model is a battery-powered prototype, the group are already looking toward a more sophisticated future for the device.
Sam mentioned plans to incorporate an app that would allow users to customise the intensity of the vibration and adjust the sensitivity levels to suit their specific needs.
To ensure their invention was more than just a novelty, the team put Brainbeat through rigorous scientific testing.
Their data analysis yielded a p-value of 0.00052, a result that gave the young inventors significant confidence in their work.
“That basically means that it works,” Sam noted, “and it’s not down to chance that it was successful.”
As the trio continues to refine the hardware, they hope Brainbeat will eventually become a standard tool for students looking to turn small physical cues into major academic improvements.