Muse: The Brain Sensing Headband
Changing the Way the World Thinks
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For most up to date info: ChooseMuse.com
Thank
you to all our supporters, we reached our goal!
[last updated April 24th 2014]
Please note:
This campaign reached its goal December 7th 2012. InteraXon is no longer offering pledge perks shown on this page. This page will no longer be updated or maintained by the InteraXon team.
Contact our Customer Care Team
community@interaxon.ca
Join us on social media
Twitter: @choosemuse
Facebook: /choosemuse
"The slim, fashion-forward device, which even Anna Wintour would conceivably wear"
- Huffington Post
"Finally: a brainwave-sensing gadget disguised as a stylish wearable headband that would fit right in with Google Glass."
- KurzweilAI.net
"The world just got a little better."
- Trendhunter.com
"The uses for a device like the Muse in the future are even more intriguing"
- CNET.com
Everyone deserves a Muse.
Introducing Muse: the brain sensing headband.
Muse is a brain fitness tool that helps you do more with your mind by helping you calm and settle your mind.
Muse is a comfortable, lightweight headband with 7 sensors designed to detect and measure your brain activity, just as a heart monitor measures your pulse.
Muse uses 7 sensors to detect and measure your brain activity. This activity is converted into information you can track on your tablet or smartphone via Bluetooth.
Our guided sessions can be used in as little as 3 minutes a day, with audio and visual feedback of your brain’s response in real time. This helps you improve your mind, your concentration and your focus each time you use Muse.
Everyone who has contributed at the Earliest Bird level or higher will receive one of our holiday bonus perks, This includes all new contributors too!
- Bonus brain training: Earliest Bird, Early Bird, Standard Pledge, My Brain on a Shirt and Beer on Your Mind contributors will receive bonus content with our brain training application so you can do even more with your mind.
- Source code: Developer’s Muse, Developer’s Deluxe and Muse Quad Pack contributors will receive source code from one of our games to get you immersed in the world of Muse even faster.
How does it work?
Your brain creates
brainwave activity every moment of your life, day and night, awake or asleep.
Each state is accompanied
by specific brain wave patterns. For example, brains of people in relaxed
states create gentle, slow-moving alpha waves,
while those engaged in intense concentration generate quick, jagged beta waves.
Muse’s brain sensors detect the spontaneous activity of
neurons in your brain. Your brain
generates electrical frequencies that are detected using electroencephalography
(EEG) sensors along the surface of the scalp.
As you shift between
states like concentration and relaxation, Muse’s algorithms detect the subtle
changes in your brain and show you those changes in real time, just like a
heart rate monitor can provide information about your physical activity.
The medical community has used EEG technologysince the early 1920s. However, recent advances in sensor
technology now make it possible to offer EEG in an easy-to-use and mobile form.
Muse sits across your
forehead like a headband, and rests behind your ears like a pair of glasses.
When properly worn, the EEG (electroencephalography) sensors on the front of the band make
contact on your forehead, and the reference sensors on the arms rest on the
backs of your ears. Muse connects wirelessly to your devices via Bluetooth.
Once Muse is on, you’ll hardly notice it at all.
What else comes with Muse?
We’re including our first application with
every Muse.
Built using custom algorithms designed by our in-house team
of experts, the first Muse app is called Calm.
The name says it all as this app helps you calm and settle your mind and
is the foundation for improving the power and capabilities of your mind with
future apps. Calm helps build skills
like maintaining composure, improving concentration and enhancing productivity.
It is virtually impossible to function at your intellectual
best if you are dealing with negative emotions. We recognize how the emotional
and intellectual are interconnected, which is why we've designed an integrated
system to help people calm their minds. Our first app, Calm, provides sessions
based on scientifically proven techniques and practices shown to reduce anxiety
and stress, to focus the mind, and to foster positive rather than negative
responses. These practices improve composure, mental clarity, concentration,
productivity, and your EQ.
We decided to introduce
this application with Muse because of discussions we had with people about
their attempts to improve their mood and build a more positive outlook and the
growing number of stress-related illnesses. The problem most people had was
a lack of helpful, moment-to-moment feedback to know whether what they were
doing was working. People simply didn’t know whether they were doing the
exercises right. Lacking direction and helpful guidance, it’s no wonder most
gave up.
This was the “A-ha!” moment for our first
application.
With our background in brain-computer interfaces, we saw how EEG could provide
meaningful and timely feedback to help people get past the usual stumbling
blocks. So we’ve been working with experts who teach mental practices,
fusing their methods and our technology into gorgeous, compelling digital
experiences to engage in with your compatible smartphone or tablet.
Who’s behind it?
InteraXon is an
interdisciplinary team of artists & engineers, neuroscientists & designers.
Our founders have been working with this technology for almost a decade. The
team started to come together in 2007, and since then we’ve been working to
make brain-computer interfaces an accessible, affordable reality.
We’re best known for the installation we created for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. It
allowed people in Vancouver to control the lights on Niagara Falls, the CN
Tower, and the Canadian Parliament buildings from more than 3000k (over 2000
miles!) away, using only their brainwaves!
Since then, we’ve been
building the coolest things we can think of for ourselves and for others. For
Wrigley’s we created a chewing game competition. Every
chew pumped up the size of one of their fruit flavors until it exploded with
juice. The first to get the fruit-flavored explosion was the winner.
We also built a game where TEDxToronto after partygoers raced to fill
virtual martini glasses using their brainwaves; the winners got drink tickets
to make their martinis a reality. Of course, we should also give mention
to our brain-sensing beer tap. Concentrate hard and the tap unleashed a
frothy cold one right into your glass.
From brain sensing slot
cars to responsive toasters. From levitating chairs to remote-controlled
blimps. We’ve been playing and experimenting, pushing the boundaries of what’s
possible with this technology. It’s given us a profound understanding of what
makes this technology work, what makes it fun, and what makes it meaningful.
And all of that knowledge is built into Muse.
Other people working on
EEG spend most of their time thinking about the technology. At InteraXon, we’re
constantly thinking about ground breaking solutions that make sense in everyday
life for people just like you. It’s this focus that we think is going to make
all the difference to you.
This is just the beginning.
We want Muse to be a part
of your daily life so we crafted it to be as attractive, comfortable, light and
intuitive as possible. We develop applications that address real-life
scenarios, providing real-life benefits, while also developing applications
that inspire, educate and entertain.
Muse is here to be the guide to the wonders of brain sensing technology for
people all over the world. Beyond the initial app included with Muse will be
apps created by ourselves and others – maybe including you!
We’re including an SDK
(Software Development Kit) with your Muse as well. You’ll get the same set of
tools for analyzing and visualizing brain waves, that we use in our lab.
And please, please, keep
us in the loop about what you’re up to with your Muse on Facebook and Twitter.
We can’t wait to see the sort of things people do with Muse.
We need your help.
We’ve spent the last four
years designing Muse and developing the algorithms that make brainwaves
meaningful, and we’re ready to take the next step. But taking Muse from a prototype
to a finished product means we need to purchase tooling (the parts that make
the parts), order components, and build test equipment to make sure everything
runs smoothly. And that stuff ain’t cheap.
That’s why we’re asking
you to help us fund our first production run. Muse can’t start changing the
world until it’s in your hands, and that’s what this project is about. We’ve
been playing, experimenting and building with this technology for years now,
and we want to give the rest of the world access to amazing experiences and
interactions as soon as we can. Your contributions will make that possible.
Thanks for your support!
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What's in the Box?
With Every Muse
Every pledge that includes our Muse headband as a reward (earliest bird, early bird, standard, developer's, developer's deluxe and brainwaves on a t-shirt Muse) includes our first application - geared towards any and everyone interested in improving aspects such as attention, working memory, and emotional intelligence and fun, simple games that you can play with your mind.
Paired with every Muse, in addition to our first application, is the Software Development Kit (SDK). If developing is your thing, this is for you! If it's not your thing, not to worry - though it will come with your Muse, you do not have to use it.
With every Muse, you have your choice of black or white.
