A mobile application to support education of dyslexic children

Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Computer Science and Engineering PhD Candidate Günet Eroğlu developed “Auto Train Brain”, a mobile application for dyslexic children having academic and learning difficulties.

Sabancı University Computer Science and Engineering PhD Candidate Günet Eroğlu developed a neurofeedback-based mobile phone application for dyslexic children. The application helps to reduce the effects of dyslexia, a subgroup of specific learning disorders for which a pharmaceutical treatment is not yet available, and to improve the academic achievement of such children.

Dyslexia is defined as a neurological difference in acquiring reading, spelling and writing skills by the European Dyslexia Association, and is seen in individuals with both average and above-average intellect. Thought to have affected geniuses such as Einstein, Mozart and Leonardo da Vinci, dyslexia is usually discovered in the first years of primary school as it affects reading skills.

Education is the only treatment

Dyslexia is seen in 10 to 15% of schoolchildren. According to research, 83% of children who have been diagnosed and have gone special education by the first, second or third grades can continue their academic life without issues.

Individuals who were dyslexic as children have relatively improved immunity in their adulthood and encounter fewer problems in school, but have an increased propensity towards Alzheimer's in later years. Therefore, lifelong and continuous learning is critical to improve cognitive capacity and preserve health.

The application improves reading speed and reduces errors in dyslexic children

The “Auto Train Brain” mobile application supports learning in children with visual and auditory games and improves through feeding their brain signals back to them (neurofeedback). According to pre-tests on 100 healthy participants, reading performances increased and fewer mistakes are done during reading.

“Auto Train Brain” receives TÜBİTAK and DCP support

HMS Health Mobile Software Sağlık Mobil Yazılım ve Eğitim A.Ş. (HMS A.Ş. https://healthmobilesoftware.com/) was founded by Günet Eroğlu, a woman entrepreneur, in partnership with the Sabancı University commercialization interface INOVENT A.Ş. and with funding support by the “TÜBİTAK 1512-BIGG” program, and also received investment from Diffusion Capital Partners (DCP) this month. HMS A.Ş. become one of the technology investments of DCP, Turkey's first technology transfer and risk capital fund management company.

Günet Eroğlu devised this software based on her own experiences, and continues her efforts under the guidance of Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences professors Müjdat Çetin and Selim Balcısoy. The funds will be used for R&D efforts and further improvement of the application.

Sabancı University has made a patent application for “Auto Train Brain”, and the mobile application will be available on Google Play Store on December 31, 2017, and on App Store on February 28, 2018.