Hey dev.to! 👋 This is my first post and I hope to be a good member of the community!
If you’ve ever been deep in code, then get pinged, “hey, quick question,” you know the pain.
- Most devs are interrupted every 3–4 minutes on average
- It takes 23 minutes to fully refocus (UC Irvine)
- You can lose 2–4 hours a day just rebuilding mental models
Even when you finally get quiet time, your brain might not be in the right state for deep work. That’s what we're trying to fix.
What We're Building: Halotropic
Halotropic is a macOS and Windows app (electron) that uses light and sound to guide your brain into the ideal rhythm for whatever task you're doing.
It’s like Brain.fm, but:
- 🧠 Uses AI trained on cognitive neuroscience research to personalize stimulation to your task (e.g. debugging, refactoring, code review)
- 🌈 Adds a visual overlay, synced to the audio, for 2.3x stronger entrainment effects
- ⚡ Works invisibly while you code
Example:
You: "Debugging a complex async bug"
Halotropic: "I've got you covered! To tackle that tricky async bug, we're engaging 16 Hz beta waves for sustained focus combined with 40 Hz gamma to boost fast neural processing. Since you're listening to music, the sound background is off to keep your audio clear. The vibrant violet hue at 287° helps break mental fog and keeps your brain sharp without fatigue. Let's make it happen and squash that bug!"
Free: 15 min/day
Premium: Unlimited use + “Take a Break” mode (0.1 Hz breath entrainment with guided mindfulness)
🎯 halotropic.com
If This Resonates, I'd Love to Talk
If you or your team are losing time to interruptions/distractions, or are just curious what this would feel like in your workflow, I'd love to hop on a quick call and explore it with you.
What Happens in Your Demo:
- We'll talk about your current workflow and what typically breaks your focus
- You’ll see personalized settings generated for your exact task
- Live demo: Watch your screen respond in real time—audio + visuals tuned for your brain
Promising Research
- 49% boost in focus with audiovisual stimulation (vs 21% for audio alone)
- 68% stress reduction over 4 weeks using alpha entrainment
- 40 Hz gamma stimulation improves memory + cognition (MIT, Cognito Therapeutics)
- $50k+/yr in productivity lost to context switching per dev
Let's Discuss!
What's your biggest focus killer during the day? How do you currently deal with interruptions?
I'd love to hear what's worked (or hasn't) for you!
P.S. I learned to code to build this—it's my first real project. But that means I really need to learn how "real" developers work to move this project forward!
P.P.S. I'd love to chat prompt/context engineering, agentic AI coding, or anything about cognitive-neuroscience/productivity.
Top comments (0)