E-tattoos may tell us about overwork but what about our neurorights?

{"text":[[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":0.5,"text":"The writer is a science commentator"}],[{"start":11.1,"text":"Many of us crave that cognitive sweet spot: having enough mental stimulation at work to keep us productively engaged, but not so much that we become overwhelmed."}],[{"start":21.22,"text":"Now researchers claim to have developed a wireless, wearable “electronic tattoo” that estimates, in real time, how hard our brains are working. The readouts, using brainwaves and eye movements, could indicate when a person is becoming overloaded, with implications for cognitive performance."}],[{"start":43.52,"text":"Overwork, fatigue, even boredom, can be a safety-critical issue for workers like pilots, surgeons and the military. But, with these readouts, employers will potentially gain access to the inner workings of employees’ brains — and there are no clear rules on who owns such “neurodata” and how it can be used. As researchers burrow into our brains, we risk racing headlong into a future where our inner lives are no longer ours alone."}],[{"start":78.58,"text":"Headsets that measure brain waves (producing electroencephalograms, or EEGs) and eye movements (producing electrooculograms, or EOGs) already exist. These involve sticking electrodes to the head, to pick up the associated electrical activity. But the gear tends to be expensive, bulky and laden with wires. Innovative headbands, glasses and earbuds are easier to wear but these can move around on the skin, making electrode contact unreliable."}],[{"start":113.24,"text":"Nanshu Lu and colleagues at the University of Texas, Austin, set out to overcome such hurdles. The result was “a wireless forehead EEG and EOG sensor designed to be as thin and conformable to the skin as a temporary tattoo sticker”, they wrote last week in the journal Device. The “e-tattoo” looks like a large transparent plaster stuck on the forehead; the ultra-thin film is decorated with black patches and wavy lines feeding into a small blue square in the middle of the forehead. It is, essentially, a stick-on sensor and circuit board."}],[{"start":154.16,"text":"Six volunteers wore the e-tattoo, customised to their facial contours; their brain activity and eye movements were tracked as they memorised sequences of letters appearing on a screen."}],[{"start":168.18,"text":"As the team reports, the tasks increased in complexity and the data gathered, when put through a machine-learning model, could be used to gauge the mental exertion involved. Assessments of mental workload, including one developed by Nasa, typically rely on self-reported questionnaires, but these are subjective — and completed after the event."}],[{"start":193.52,"text":"That is why the researchers, who acknowledge support from the US Army Research Office, tout the device as a breakthrough: it is relatively cheap (starting at $200), scalable, objective and operates in real time, including when the user is moving around. But there are drawbacks: the device picks up only frontal brain activity; it only works well on hairless, sweat-free skin; and the lab tasks do not reflect true workplace demands."}],[{"start":228.08,"text":"Even so, faster, cheaper neurotech will eventually arrive. That worries Stephen Damianos, executive director of the US-based Neurorights Foundation, which campaigns for such “neurorights” as the right to mental privacy. The organisation has assisted several territories in drafting neurorights legislation; it also champions a “technocratic oath” for researchers."}],[{"start":256.66,"text":"There could be exciting safety benefits from cognitive monitoring, Damianos told me, but they are currently overshadowed by a host of factors: the lack of regulation; the spectre of coerced mental surveillance in the workplace; data breaches; neurodata being sold to advertisers or insurers; the use of AI algorithms to reveal more than the user intended."}],[{"start":284.08,"text":"“Without clear protections . . . people might find themselves excluded from jobs, penalised by insurers, or monitored at work — not for performance, but for what their brains reveal about their mental health, mood, fatigue and stress levels,” Damianos says, stressing that measuring brain activity is not comparable to tracking step count or heart rate. Privacy is already a concern: a 2024 report on 30 neurotech companies found that most left consumers in the dark about who owned their brain data."}],[{"start":323.84,"text":"We can and should learn from the plummeting fortunes of private DNA testing company 23andMe. The fate of genetic data collected from millions of customers remains unclear, with the information falling through regulatory gaps in many countries. Customers have reported difficulties deleting their data."}],[{"start":347.36,"text":"Innovation has a habit of outpacing our willingness to think hard about its consequences. Our neurodata is personal data too — and we all urgently need to put in the cognitive effort to plan ahead."}],[{"start":370.4,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftmailbox.cn/album/a_1749202286_6794.mp3"}