SBIR Phase I: Hacking Eye Movements to Improve Attention

这个SBIR第一阶段项目旨在商业化一套凝视驱动的训练游戏，旨在训练注意力定向，集中和抑制控制。这些视频游戏是用眼睛玩的，而不是鼠标或触摸屏。通过将凝视驱动方面与嵌入式训练原则相结合，游戏在训练注意力方面非常有效。注意力是一种基本的认知技能，对学业的成功至关重要，就像阅读是学习其他学科的基础一样。拟议的项目将为小学和中学提供一个独立的系统，用于特殊教育和标准教育计划，以训练有注意力集中挑战的儿童的注意力控制。本产品特别适用于患有自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）和注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）的儿童，因为他们的学习成绩受到注意力挑战的影响。该项目的一个关键技术创新是开发了一套评估工具，可以提供与经过验证的实验室注意力评估相同的学生表现反馈。游戏中的评估将根据实验室标准进行验证。在该项目结束时，干预和评估游戏套件将准备部署在学校环境中进行测试，作为SBIR第二阶段项目的一部分。注意力技能是认知控制和成功课堂学习能力的基础，但现有的实验室工具可以准确测量注意力的许多方面，这是一线教师和教育工作者无法企及的。SBIR第一阶段项目通过创建易于使用的评估任务，吸引学生的注意力，并将其有效性与黄金标准实验室评估进行比较，从而为注意力评估的标准方法带来创新。这将使对注意力功能的准确评估更加可靠，即使在没有评估专家在场的情况下也是如此，并且该项目为可以显示无偏见的定量改善的注意力训练游戏打开了市场。这项创新将广泛适用于各种各样的人来评估注意力，但这个特定的项目旨在将实验室质量的注意力干预游戏商业化，供学校教育工作者使用，并提供一套具有交叉评估和培训功能的软件套件。这种方法将为学校工作人员提供反馈，并确保注意力训练的下一步适合学习者当前的技能。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

This SBIR Phase I project seeks to commercialize a suite of gaze-driven training games that are designed to train attention orienting, focus, and inhibitory control. These video games are played with one's eyes, instead of a mouse or a touchscreen. By combining the gaze-driven aspect with embedded training principles, the games are uniquely effective in training attention. Attention is a foundational cognitive skill that is essential for academic success, much like reading is foundational to learning other subjects. The proposed project will result in a stand-alone system for elementary and middle schools to use in both special education and standard education programs for training attention control in children with attentional focus challenges. This product is particularly applicable for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), because their academic performance suffers from their attentional challenges. A key technical innovation for this project is the development of a suite of assessments that provide feedback on student performance on par with validated laboratory assessments of attention. The in-game assessments will be validated against the laboratory standards. At the end of this project, the suite of intervention and assessment games will be ready to deploy for testing in school settings as part of a SBIR Phase II project.Attention skill lies at the foundation of cognitive control and one's ability to scaffold successful classroom learning, yet existing laboratory tools to accurately measure attention's many facets are out of reach of the teachers and educators on the frontlines. This SBIR Phase I project brings innovation to the standard methods of attention assessment by creating easy to use assessment tasks that attract the attention of school children and whose validity will be compared to gold-standard lab assessments. This will make accurate assessment of attentional function more reliable even when delivered without an assessment expert present, and this project opens the market for attention training games that can show unbiased, quantitative improvement. This innovation will be broadly useful to allow a wide range of individuals to assess attention, but this specific project seeks to commercialize lab-quality attention intervention games for use by educators in schools with a software suite featuring interleaved assessment and training. This approach will provide feedback for school staff as well as ensure that the next steps in attention training are appropriate for the learner's current skill.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.