Futuristic gadget improves focus, reduces stress

Published 2:23 pm Wednesday, December 24, 2014

So Muse, the horseshoe-shaped, brain-sensing headband, goes across the forehead and behind the ears and measures brainwaves? Yep. Just like measuring your heart rate can help you boost the intensity of your workout, measuring brainwaves can help improve focus and reduce stress.

Muse uses Bluetooth to sync with an app that coaches you every step of the way. Once Muse measures baseline brain activity, a friendly narrator instructs you to close your eyes and transports you to a to a virtual beach with the sounds of waves, wind, and, if you’re lucky, birds cooing. The calmer you get during the exercise, the more bonus birds you’ll hear. At the end, Muse shows pretty graphs of the data it collected.

— Herald news services