AttentivU: a Biofeedback Device to Monitor and Improve Engagement in the Workplace

Everyday work is becoming increasingly complex and cognitively demanding. A person's level of attention influences how effectively their brain prepares itself for action, and how much effort they apply to a task. However, the various distractions of the modern work environment often make it hard to pay and sustain attention. To address this issue, we present AttentivU - a system that uses wearable electroencephalography (EEG) to measure the attention of a person in real-time. When the user's attention level is low, the system provides real-time, subtle feedback to nudge the person to become attentive again. Users can choose to turn the device on or off based on whether their current task requires focused attention. We tested the system on 12 adults in a real workplace setting. The preliminary results show that the biofeedback redirects the attention of the participants to the task at hand and improves their performance.