The University of Essex announced on 24 November 2025 that researchers have been granted 10,000 hours on Isambard-AI, a government-funded AI supercomputer, for the EyeWarn project.
EyeWarn asks whether mental fatigue and lapses in concentration show in the eyes, including in gaze patterns and pupil dilation. The time on Isambard-AI will be used to run large-scale models that bring together data from people and from their surroundings, so the team can study how the eye behaves, reacts, and is shaped by cognition.
Prof. Javier Andreu-Perez leads the Essex team. With him are Dr Yaxiong Lei and Dr Parastoo Azizinezhad, of the Lab, and Dr Tom Foulsham, of the Department of Psychology. They are working with the Solvemed Group, and with researchers at other UK universities, on technology that estimates fatigue from a scan of the eyes. The work collects and analyses longitudinal and multimodal data in natural settings.
The project is funded by UKRI through the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Prosperity Partnerships programme, which is meant to carry research into real settings. Prof. Andreu-Perez said the supercomputer will let the team assess and predict fatigue more quickly, and study how cognitive strain affects behaviour. He described EyeWarn as work in human-centred AI: understanding and monitoring fatigue, and its effects, through the eye.
The University of Essex published the announcement on 24 November 2025.