00 / THE GAZE

SmartNeuroScreen (SNS): eye tracking for early childhood screening.

For professionals: SNS organises a child’s gaze and supports clinical reading in neurodevelopmental screening, ages 2 to 5. Interpretation stays clinical. In development — not a validated diagnostic.

Talk to the team See how it works

FIG. 00 — PATHILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE

Illustrative path. The shapes are not part of the protocol, and the trajectory is fictional — not a child and not a clinical result.

01Gaze only. On-screen activities, no questionnaires in the first version.

02Early childhood. From age 2, with an initial focus on ages 2 to 5.

03Organised gaze data. Path, time and indicators gathered for clinical reading.

04Clinician in the loop. Interpretation and referral are always clinical.

01 / THE TOOL

What it does, in practice.

SmartNeuroScreen (SNS) supports neurodevelopmental screening in early childhood with eye tracking. During on-screen activities, SNS records where a child looks and brings path, time in each area and indicators into a record that is easier to read clinically. The professional decides whether further investigation is needed. Gaze is only one part: the child’s history and daily life count too. The tool is in development and is not a validated diagnostic.

Eye trackingA record of where the child looks on screen, and for how long.

NeurodevelopmentThe process through which a child builds attention, learning, communication and social interaction.

ScreeningAn initial step that flags aspects for a more in-depth assessment.

Record the gaze

Records how visual attention is distributed during the activities shown on screen.

LIMITATION: DEPENDS ON RECORDING QUALITY

Organise information

Brings together gaze path, time in each area and activity indicators in a record that is easier to read clinically.

LIMITATION: ONE MEASURE DESCRIBES ONE ACTIVITY

Support investigation

Provides complementary information for a qualified professional’s analysis.

LIMITATION: INTERPRETATION IS ALWAYS PROFESSIONAL

02 / UNDERSTAND THE TECHNOLOGY

Gaze in perspective.

Eye tracking helps answer three questions: where attention concentrates, how the gaze moves through a scene and how long it stays in each area.

FIG. 01 — HEATMAPCONCEPTUAL EXAMPLE

LOWER HIGHER GAZE CONCENTRATION

Where attention concentrates. Hot regions received more viewing time; cold regions were barely explored.

FIG. 02 — PATHCONCEPTUAL EXAMPLE

GAZE POINT · AREA ∝ DURATION TRAJECTORY

Where the gaze travels. The trajectory shows the order of exploration; the numbers indicate an illustrative sequence.

FIG. 03 — GAZE POSITION × TIMEHORIZONTAL AXIS

How the gaze moves over time. Plateaus are fixations (the gaze resting on a point); rapid jumps are saccades (moving from one point to another).

FIG. 04 — DWELL TIME% OF VALID TIME · FICTIONAL

Area A40%

Area B35%

Area C25%

050100

How long the gaze stays in each area. The values add up to 100% only because, in this example, all valid time was split across three non-overlapping areas.

FixationA period in which the gaze stays relatively stable on one point.

SaccadeA rapid movement that carries the gaze from one point to the next.

Area of interestA region of the screen defined before the analysis.

Dwell timeTotal time the gaze spends inside an area.

Conceptual example: the geometric shapes are not part of the real protocol, and trajectories, intensities and proportions are fictional. They do not represent a child, age norms, research results or referral criteria. One measure describes one activity; interpretation must consider the child.

03 / HOW IT WORKS

From observation to professional reading.

A visual experience. In the initial stage, the tool focuses on eye tracking while the child watches visual stimuli on screen.

01 /PrepareGuide positioning and check the conditions needed for recording.
02 /ObservePresent visual activities while the child looks at the screen.
03 /OrganiseGather gaze records and available indicators, taking data quality into account.
04 /ContextualiseSupport the professional’s reading alongside developmental history and other information.

04 / EARLY CHILDHOOD

2–5years

We start with the first years.

Designed for children from age 2, with an initial focus on ages 2 to 5. Extending to other ages is planned for later phases; the initial range is not a definitive maximum age.

The range is a project development target, not a validated normative range.

For those who follow a child.

Families, professionals, educators and administrators have different questions. The tool’s role has to be clear to each of them.

FAMILIES

Understand the next steps

Learn about a way to record a child’s visual attention and discuss the results with a professional. Developmental concerns should be taken to a professional, with or without screening.

Get your questions answered

PROFESSIONALS

Add a source of observation

Review gaze records and indicators and integrate them with developmental history and assessment. Interpretation and referral decisions remain with the professional.

Understand the records

TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS

Strengthen dialogue with families

A proposal that may support screening projects and dialogue between school, family and health professionals. Any school use requires defined conditions, guardian participation and professional interpretation. Gaze recording does not measure school performance.

Talk about the school context

GOVERNMENTS AND INSTITUTIONS

Think about screening as a network

Explore research, pilot projects and future use in developmental services. Network adoption requires adequate evidence, conditions of use and a follow-up pathway after screening.

Talk about a partnership

The tool is in development. Ways of using it and partnership options are discussed with the team as the project advances.

06 / THE COMPANY

Neuropsychology and engineering. From the start.

SmartNeuroCompany is Júlia, Luciana and Rodrigo. SmartNeuroScreen brings together clinical experience, research and software development.

NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

Júlia Lima do Espírito Santo

Clinical ideation and development

Neuropsychologist with a master’s in Neurosciences from PUCRS, now a PhD candidate in Neurosciences. Founder of SmartNeuroScreen, she links clinical practice to the questions that guide the project.

NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

Luciana Schermann Azambuja

Research and clinical development

Neuropsychologist with a PhD in Medicine and Health Sciences from PUCRS and postdoctoral training in Paediatrics and Child Health. She contributes to the project’s scientific and educational work.

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

Rodrigo K. C. Cabral

Software engineer

Responsible for platform development and technical structure: system implementation, data organisation and report building.

07 / FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Clarity at every step.

What the tool does and how to understand its role.

Which ages is it being developed for?

For children from age 2, with an initial focus on ages 2 to 5. Extension is planned for future phases; there is no definitive maximum age.

Are there questionnaires in the first version?

No. The initial phase focuses on eye tracking during visual activities and includes no questionnaires.

Is the tool already available?

It is in development. Contact SmartNeuroCompany to learn about the current stage, available features and options for a demonstration or collaboration.

How can I learn more about the project?

Professionals, researchers and institutions can write to smartneuroscreen@gmail.com. Children’s data is not needed for the first contact.

08 / TALK TO THE TEAM

Talk to the team.

Professionals, schools, families and institutions can write to learn about SNS. We reply by email. This conversation does not book a screening: the tool is in development.

Team email smartneuroscreen@gmail.com No children’s data is needed for the first contact.