Focus Bloom

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Initital Sketches
Inital Sketches
Artwork
Artwork
Artwork
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Presentation

Inspiration

The rise of social media and constant distraction has made it difficult for students to remain focused for long periods of time. Students, even ourselves, struggle with maintaining attention during independent work, losing motivation, and lacking accountability. We were inspired to creative solution that leverages psychology and gamification to make productivity more engaging and rewarding.

What it does

Our application, Focus Bloom, is a productivity web app that transforms work into both a visual and interactive experience. Users start a timed work session, during which they grow a virtual plant. Using real-time attention tracking through their webcam, the app determines whether the user is staying on task, which we aspire to integrate using Presage's technology. If they remain focused, their plant grows and evolves; if they become distracted, the plant's progress slows and eventually regresses. Over time, the user builds a virtual garden that reflects their productivity, reinforcing positive study habits through visual reward and accountability

How we built it

We built Focus Bloom as a web-based platform using JavaScript, CSS, and HTML. In the future, we strive to integrate attention-tracking technology using Presage, which would analyze webcam input, eye movement, and user activity using keystrokes and hand movement. The data is processed in real time to determine focus levels. We want to implement a system of alerts that notifies the user when they go off task, accompanied by gamification metrics that control plat growth and penalties. All the visual assets were drawn by hand to make a more comfortable and cozy experience for the user, rather than an AI-generated look.

Challenges we ran into

One of our biggest challenges was determining how to accurately assess whether the user was truly focused or not. We brainstormed how we would balance sensitivity and keeping the user accountable. Additionally, we wanted to design a stem that felt motivating rather than a form of punishment.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of creating a function system that combines real-time attention tracking with an engaging reward system. We set ourselves apart with our hand-drawn styles that give the application a warmer, more human feel. We successfully built a product that not only works technically but also addresses a meaningful problem faced by all students today.

What we learned

Through this project, we explored how to integrate API's real-time data processing into a web application. While not everything went according to plan, we gained experience with balancing user experience and functionality. We learned the power of gamification and physically and psychological influence on behavior, and increasing motivation

What's next for Focus Bloom

In the future, we plan to actually implement Presage's technology and put the attention-seeking aspect into effect. We also plan to expand plant variety and customization options to make the experience more personalized for the user. Additional features we want to implement are a customizable shop, more detailed progress tracking, and a social leaderboard to further enhance user motivation. We aim to turn Focus Bloom into a widely accessible tool that helps users build lasting productivity habits for their future.