Three Harvard University graduate students won an international award to support the further development of their concussion screening device, which could radically reduce the cost of such tests.
Cleo Pontone, Sophia DeVito and Radhika Saran, all of whom are pursuing master’s degrees in design engineering, were named the 2026 James Dyson Award International Winner for their prototype, Rumble Rims. The device, a headset similar to those used in virtual-reality applications, helps screen concussions, though it is not a diagnostic tool.
Someone such as an athlete who may have had a concussion would put on a Rumble Rims headset, which uses infrared light and mirrors to track eye movement. The headset connects to a tablet device or computer, which would run a game that tasks the player to track, look at, or look away from dots that appear on the headset display.
DeVito said the game uses an algorithm to track “how quickly [their eyes] can go from one point to another or how consistent their tracking can be.” It then sends what she called a stoplight report to the coach — green means good to return to play, yellow means stay out of the game, and red means seek additional screening from a medical professional.
If someone has been diagnosed with a concussion, Rumble Rims can also be used to test how they are recovering and help determine when they can return to play or other activities.
While similar eye-movement screening technology typically costs $20,000 per use in hospitals, the first version of the Rumble Rims prototype cost less than $300 to make, DeVito said. The group estimates a commercial version will cost less than $1,000 for the device.
The students came up with the idea for Rumble Rims in their design engineering class last fall. Before deciding to use eye movement to measure concussion risk, the students tested biomarkers, including spit, and tested helmets, mouthguards and chin rests before creating the headset.
“All of us came in with the same values and hopes of building something … that is accessible and usable and attacks a problem space that doesn’t normally get attention,” said Pontone.
An estimated 3.8 million concussions occur in the United States each year from sports and recreational activities and 50% go unreported, according to a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. “That number seems to be growing,” Pontone said.
The design engineering students realized that the steps toward screening and diagnosing a concussion is “still a very confusing, subjective process,” DeVito said. If a concussion goes undetected and a player returns to the game, they risk further brain injury. In some cases, it can take up to 72 hours for concussion symptoms to appear, but Rumble Rims can detect these delayed-onset events.
Receiving the $40,000 Dyson award, funded by the inventor who established the Dyson manufacturing company, “(has) been a very validating moment to really feel like we’re on the right track and we’ve done something that could be really useful,” said Saran.
“Cleo, Radhika and Sophia have found a new way to bring objective screening to the sidelines, where the critical decisions are made. It could help prevent the lasting brain injuries that affect so many sportsmen and women,” James Dyson, whose inventions include a bagless vacuum cleaner, a bladeless fan, and a high-speed hand dryer, said in a statement.
The trio said the prize money will let them seek out clinical partners who can help test the second version of Rumble Rims, which is in development. A clinical partner would help them increase accuracy through testing and prepare for clinical trials, DeVito said.
Before the clinical trial phase, DeVito added “we would love to partner with local schools or concussion clinics” for early testing.
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