Check Out This Brainwave-Reading Headband That Could Control All Your Devices The Muse headband has sensors that collect a wearer's brainwaves and then translates the information to binary code.
By Jason Fell
If being able to control a tablet with your mind sounds pretty cool, then imagine a device that could eventually allow you to control all of your gadgets -- all without lifting a finger.
That's the big idea from Toronto-based InteraXon. Since the company's inception in 2007, the team has developed a headband it calls Muse. It's a sleek-looking device that has six sensors that rest against your forehead. The sensors read and measure the wearer's brainwaves and can translate the information to binary code. It's essentially a mobile EEG device.
That code could then be interpreted by computers and other devices that can identify increases or drops in the level of activity, according to a report from Quartz. The code can hypothetically be used to control anything that's electric, the company says.
"With practice you can learn to manipulate your brainwave pattern, like flexing a muscle you've never used before," InteraXon says on its website.
Right now Muse is primarily being used for brain-activity monitoring. "It sends those brainwaves to your smartphone or tablet showing you how well your brain is performing, and also translates your brainwaves into instructions to interact with content on your iOS or Android device," InteraXon says.
Monitoring brain activity sounds about right but, as with anything that could allow people to control devices with their minds, this type of technology will need some serious real-world breaking in. Flexing your brain like a muscle will be, I assume, easier said than done for most. Or at the very least will take some getting used to.
Due to begin shipping In December, InteraXon is accepting pre-orders for Muse for $199.
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Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the delivery date of the Muse headband. The first orders are expected to ship in December.
