Mind games: Muse is Nike Fuel for the brain

Muse takes the physical form of a sleek headband, but is also a platform that comes with a developer kit. InteraXon CEO Ariel Gartner says the first application bundled with the device will be a brain health system offering games to improve cognitive function and reduce stress.

The device cannot read thoughts, but it can measure levels of focus and interaction. ‘As you focus, something can get brighter or louder, and as you relax it can get dimmer,’ Gartner tells LS:N Global. Beverage brands have used the product to enable customers to fill cups of beer or soda by concentrating on the task, she says. 

The technology used in Muse is similar to that found in medical devices that enable anaesthetists to measure the level of consciousness in patients undergoing surgery. But with Muse ‘you look like you’ve walked out of an American Apparel store rather than a hospital’, says Gartner. 

Muse will be available to consumers later in 2013. For more, read our Self-Quants tribe.