DREAM MR: Distraction Regulation for Effective Attention Management using Mixed Reality

Public places can be overstimulating, making focusing on a task difficult. This can be particularly problematic to people in the neurodivergent spectrum. This paper presents the initial plan to develop DREAM MR, an assistive framework to regulate the amount of distractions a person perceives from the environment. The objective of the framework is to temporarily and seamlessly attenuate elements in the vicinity of a workspace that have the potential to distract users from their current task. For each object, the amount of attenuation to apply over time will be determined by calculating three criteria: potential for distraction and overstimulation, relevance to the task, and ability to promote connectedness to the environment. DREAM MR will achieve this by leveraging recent advancements in Mixed Reality such as real-time environment tracking and understanding and video pass-through. This framework will promote personal accessibility and functionality in public spaces for all individuals.