A stylish new brain-sensing headband

October 22, 2012 by Amara D. Angelica

Muse wearable brainwave headband (credit; InteraXon)

Finally: a brainwave-sensing gadget disguised as a stylish wearable headband that would fit right in with Google Glass … and not make you look like a Fringe experiment run amok.

InteraXon just announced its Muse tonight. It’s available for pre-order now on crowd-funding platform Indiegogo (to raise $150,000) and due out in Spring 2013, the company says.

It’s not clear to me yet how this gadget differs from other EEG headset devices*, but features include wireless connection to your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth (iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, PC, and Linux), and rechargeable battery that lasts for 10 hours of continuous use.

Pricing: $135 including shipping during the first week of the Indiegogo campaign, then $165 until December 7; after that, $199 retail.

Muse (credit: InteraXon)

The company says they’ve been working with neuroscientists (no names provided yet) “under a federal grant right now; they include Dr William Tays, Dr Sylvain Morano, and Dr Norm Farb at Rotman Brain Institute in Toronto,” InteraXon CEO Ariel Garten told KurzweilAI. “Other collaborators have included Tiago Falk, Tim Mullins, Peter Carlen, Kostas Plataniotis (biosignals), and others.” They have also been working with cyborg Dr. Steve Mann, famous for his escapade with McDonald’s in Paris.

InteraXon says it will be designing apps for gaming, memory training, fitness, brain health, stress reduction, education, music, and entertainment, plus there’s a free SDK.

Garten has promised more details Monday morning. InteraXon is based in Toronto are best known for a PR stunt at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, with people lighting up three major Canadian landmarks with their brainwaves.

Meanwhile, I’m placing my pre-order. This thing definitely looks awesome.

* Update from InteraXon CEO Ariel Garten: “We differ from the other EEGs on the market in a few ways: we are a four-sensor system, which gives you good fidelity and coverage in a discreet form factor. All the channels are independent from each other and the reference, giving robust readings.”

UPDATE 12:10 a.m. PDT 10/22/2012 from CEO Ariel Garten, as noted in two locations above.

UPDATE 9:30 a.m. PDT 10/22/2012: end date for Indiegogo funding: Dec. 7