Researchers develop face 'e-tattoo' to track mental workload in high-stress jobs

Scientists say that they have formulated a way to help people in stressful and demanding work environments track their brainwaves and brain usage - an electronic tattoo device, or "e-tattoo," on the person's face.

Lu told Fox News Digital in an email that this device was motivated by high-demand, high-stake jobs such as pilots, air traffic controllers, doctors and emergency dispatchers. 

Lu also said ER doctors and robot/drone operators can also leverage this technology for training and performance enhancements. 

The e-tattoo is temporarily attached to the subject's forehead, and is smaller than current devices in use today.

While most EEG and EOG machines are bulky and expensive, the e-tattoo offers a compact and cost-effective solution.

The way the study was conducted was with six participants being shown a screen on which 20 letters flashed up, one at a time, at various locations. 

Participants were asked to click a mouse if either the letter itself, or its location, matched one shown a given number of letters.

Each participant carried out the task multiple times, corresponding to four levels of difficulty.

The team found that as the tasks became harder, the different types of brainwaves detected showed shifts in activity that corresponded to a higher mental workload response.

Lu said that the device is currently a lab prototype.

"Before it can be ready for commercialization, it will need more development, such as real-time, on-tattoo mental workload decoding and validation on more people and in more realistic environments," she said. "The prototype currently costs $200."