BrainCo Attention-Headband Backlash in Zhejiang Schools

In September 2019, Xiaoshun Central Primary School in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, began using a wearable EEG (electroencephalography) headband called FocusEDU, made by Hangzhou-based cognitive-technology company Zhejiang BrainCo Technology, after receiving devices donated by an alumnus investor. The headband reads electrical brain-signal activity and an AI algorithm converts it into a real-time 'attention' or 'focus' score, which in at least one pilot classroom was displayed to the whole class as a gamified visualisation (rockets flying on a screen based on each child's live focus level). According to the company, students used the devices for one or two sessions per week of up to 30 minutes each, with parental consent obtained beforehand.

The device attracted little attention until photos and video of primary-school children wearing the headbands circulated on Chinese social media (Weibo) in late October 2019, following a Wall Street Journal report on the pilot. The images triggered a large public backlash, with many commenters and parents describing the device as an invasive, 'Orwellian' form of surveillance of children's brains, and expressing skepticism that it improved learning at all. Reported student reactions were mixed: some students told journalists it felt like the headbands were 'controlling us' or caused discomfort, while others claimed improved scores; one teacher noted that students wearing the devices became noticeably louder when answering questions, possibly reflecting performance pressure from being monitored.

In response to the outcry, the Zhejiang provincial/Jinhua local education bureau ordered the school to stop using the headbands on 31 October 2019 and directed schools to carry out a self-inspection to ensure collected neural data could not be leaked. BrainCo pushed back publicly, stating that the product 'was not designed to monitor children's brains' and that media reports had been misinterpreted, but the suspension stood. No information was found indicating the device was reinstated at this school afterward, and no independent efficacy study of the headband's educational impact was located.

This case is a well-documented, multi-sourced example of a real deployment of AI-based biometric monitoring of minors in a classroom that was rolled back rapidly once exposed to public scrutiny -- useful precisely as a low-transparency, low-consent cautionary case for the governance/ethics dimension, illustrating both the appeal and the risk of affect/attention-sensing AI hardware in schools.

Read the full analysis: https://www.vice.com/en/article/chinese-school-made-students-wear-brainwave-detecting-headgear/