Researchers aim to refocus wandering minds | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › Researchers aim to refocus wandering minds Researchers aim to refocus wandering minds Published: October 08, 2015 Author: William G. Gilroy We’re all guilty of it at times. Whether it’s reading a report, sitting through a meeting or listening to a classroom lecture, we’ve all realized, with a start, that our minds have wandered. University of Notre Dame researcher Sidney D’Mello and colleagues are researching this “mind wandering” phenomena and developing a software system that can both detect when a person’s focus shifts from the task at hand and get that person to refocus. People’s minds wander 20 percent to 40 percent of the time, according to some estimates. The technology D’Mello and his colleagues are pursuing could be applicable for business, aviation and the military, but they are focusing in particular on combating the problem in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning, where it is especially acute. D’Mello, an assistant professor of both psychology and computer science and engineering, is principal investigator for a National Science Foundation grant to address the problem. He is working with psychology professor James Brockmole and Matthew Kloser, director of the Notre Dame Center for STEM Education, on the project titled “Attention-Aware Cyberlearning to Detect and Combat Inattentiveness During Learning." The researchers’ vision is to make computer interfaces intelligent enough to spot a user’s waning attention and take action. The system’s software tracks a person’s eye movements with a commercial eye tracker, a person’s facial features with a webcam and the person’s interaction patterns. If the system determines that the person’s mind is wandering, it can pause the session, notify the person, highlight the content, display the missed content in a different format, or tag the content for future restudy. The system also has the potential to evaluate course materials on the basis of how well they engage students’ attention. A prototype of the system was developed in a Notre Dame laboratory. A more advanced system is currently being developed and tested in STEM classes in northern Indiana’s Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp. Contact: Sidney D’Mello, 574-631-8322, sdemello@nd.edu Posted In: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Research Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related September 12, 2022 Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street … in different countries? September 12, 2022 Hurricane Harvey’s hardest hit survivors five times as likely to experience anxiety from COVID-19 pandemic August 29, 2022 Gender-diverse teams produce more novel, higher-impact scientific discoveries, study shows August 23, 2022 In race against hurricane season, engineers launch survey to study incentives for climate-resilient homes August 16, 2022 Early childhood lead exposure, exacerbated by structural racism, results in lower reading scores For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn