Designing a neurofeedback device to quantify attention levels using coffee as a reward system

Purpose. Work performance is closely related to one's attention level. In this study, a brain-computer interface (BCI) device suitable for office usage was chosen to quantify the individual's attention levels. Methods. A BCI system was adopted to interface brainwave signals to a coffee maker via three ascending levels of laser detectors. The preliminary test with this prototype was to characterize the attention level through the collected coffee amount. Here, the preliminary testing was comparing the correlation between the attention level and the participants' cumulative grade point average (CGPA) and scores from the 21-item depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS-21) and the attentional control scale (ACS) using ordinal regression. It was assumed that a greater CGPA would generate a greater attention level. Result. The generated coffee amount from the BCI system had a significant positive correlation with the CGPA (p = 0.004), mild depression (p = 0.019) and mild and extremely severe anxiety (p = 0.044 and p = 0.019, respectively) and a negative correlation with the ACS score (p = 0.042). Conclusion. This simple and cost-effective prototype has the potential to enable everyone to know their immediate attention level and predict the possible correlation to their mental state.