The clock drawing test is a simple, familiar task — patients are asked to draw a clock — that doctors have used for decades to check for memory and thinking problems. Today it is usually scored only as a pass or fail, even though the drawing holds far richer clues about a person’s thinking skills. Our project, Clock2Vec, uses artificial intelligence to read a photo of a hand-drawn clock and identify specific patterns of errors. We will link those patterns to particular thinking abilities — such as planning, attention, and spatial skills — using thousands of clock drawings paired with detailed cognitive tests. The result will be an easy-to-understand report that helps clinicians decide which follow-up tests a person may need. Our goal is faster, fairer, and more accessible cognitive screening, using only a smartphone camera and a piece of paper.
