Neurable’s brainwave-tracking Master & Dynamic headphones
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“It’s the most powerful wearable device to track the most important organ in your body.” Dr. Ramses Alcaide is explaining the electroencephalography (EEG) technology that his company Neurable uses to track activity with its brain-computer interface (BCI).
Alcaide is the CEO and co-founder, and explains that a big problem with EEG sensors is that they’re often stuck on bulky, awkward-looking headsets — not exactly something you’d want to wear out in public. And according to him, that’s why the technology hasn’t yet “made the kind of impact they could [on the world].”
Sure, we’ve seen a variety of headbands over the last decade, but they add an extra device to your bag. Alcaide argues that there’s a better way to use EEG technology that’s even less intrusive.
Neurable started in 2011 at the University of Michigan where its technology was initially created. The overall platform is an AI system that adds filtering to enhance and boost the signal of brain data.
The company split off in 2015 and is working to bring its EEG-powered technology to “small everyday devices,” as Alcaide describes them. “[It] took a lot of time, but what we’ve been able to do is bring what have traditionally been these larger systems into everyday devices using AI,” he says.
Devices like headphones, earbuds, helmets, AR glasses and other devices can be equipped with EEG sensors so they can track neurodegenerative diseases and neurodivergences based on brain activity.
For example, the ability to track Alzheimer’s or ADHD before a person is diagnosed with them is part of Neurable’s plan. However, right now the company’s first step is to create one of those “everyday wearables” that can track a decline in focus, which Alcaide calls “good mental hygiene.”
The company’s first device is the MW75 Neuro: a set of headphones built in collaboration with Master & Dynamic. Based on the existing MW75, this version has dry fabric EEG sensors in the ear pads, which send 12 EEG channels to the Neurable app for the software to perform AI analysis and signal processing. According to the company, the app then interprets the data with “high confidence” and “lab-level accuracy.”
The Neurable app is where all the data for the MW75 Neuro is displayed. First, it essentially gamifies mental hygiene with focus tracking. You earn points for high (2), medium (2) and low (1) focus levels, accumulating points throughout the day.
You’ll then be able to see individual session summaries with week-over-week comparisons, as well as attention span graphs.
During these periods, the system can prompt you to take a break if focus is waning, which Neurable says should help with burnout to some extent. Of course, “burnout” isn’t something that’s easy to measure, or even tangibly measure, as it involves much more than just your focus or attention.
The MW75 Neuro isn’t just for keeping you on task. The company says tracking your focus levels can help you with gaming, meditation, reading, and even decision-making.
Noise cancellation can block out distractions during times when you need to lock in, which doesn’t just apply to the office.
Neurable says that no matter the activity, its app provides the data needed to identify your performance over time and tell you when you need to take a break or perhaps find a different environment to be productive.
“This is just scratching the iceberg,” explains Alcaide. “We’re not claiming or diagnosing everything, [but] it really gives you a glimpse into the future that these everyday wearables can offer.”
Of course, the MW75 Neuro is a set of noise-cancelling headphones, which means you’ll get a lot of audio features in addition to the fancy brain tech.
Master & Dynamic CEO Jonathan Levin tells me that this version of the headphones has the same industrial design as the regular MW75.
The 40mm beryllium drivers carry M&D’s trademark warm sound profile and four microphones are employed for active noise cancellation (ANC) and calls. There are still multiple sound modes and you can customize the EQ and more inside the M&D Connect app.
Apart from the ear pads, there are a few other changes to the MW75 Neuro. Neurable’s version supports adaptive transparency mode for starters, but the main difference is inside. The electronics were completely redesigned to add an EEG processor, including an ARM Cortex chip that powers the AI technology.
Since the sensor-packed cushions on this model are fabric instead of leather, Levin says the change alters the sound profile slightly. And during my testing I noticed they’re not as comfortable as the original model. If you pre-order from Master & Dynamic, the company will throw in non-EEG leather ear pads for free.