Harvard students win James Dyson Award for low-cost concussion screening headset
Radhika Saran and her teammates developed Rumble Rims, a device costing under $350 that uses infrared cameras to track eye movements.
Radhika Saran, an India-raised Harvard University student, and her teammates Cleo Pontone and Sophia DeVito have won the global medical category of the 2026 James Dyson Award. According to the Times of India, the team was announced as one of two global winners by Sir James Dyson on November 4, 2026.
The group created Rumble Rims, a concussion-screening headset designed to be more accessible to grassroots teams, community sports programmes, and schools. While some comparable eye-tracking technologies can cost $25,000 or more, the team's current prototype was built for under $350.
The device uses infrared cameras to monitor an athlete's eye movements as they follow a moving target on an iPad screen. This process takes approximately two to three minutes, after which the measurements are processed and shown on a mobile display. The headset also features a recovery dashboard for repeated testing.
The students noted in an interview with the James Dyson Award that they were surprised to find simple methods, such as asking an athlete to follow a finger, are still commonly used for assessments. They stated that such checks rely heavily on the judgement of the person conducting them.
The team will receive £30,000 to assist with the further advancement of their technology. Their upcoming objectives include creating a more advanced prototype, increasing the accuracy of the eye-movement test, and validating the device with medical advisers, coaches, and athletes.