Get Ready for More Brain-Scanning Consumer Gadgets

The next gadget you put on your head could scan your brain. Neurable, a Boston-based company that embeds its noninvasive brain-scanning technology into hardware to monitor a person’s focus levels, announced on Tuesday that it is transitioning to a licensing platform model. By certifying third parties, Neurable expects its tech to be in a “flood” of consumer gadgets this year and next.

Neurable has until now focused its efforts on a pair of consumer-grade headphones—made in partnership with audio brand Master & Dynamic. It also has a contract with the US Department of Defense to see how its technology can monitor blast overpressure and potentially help diagnose mild traumatic brain injuries in soldiers. With the licensing model, we could see more of Neurable’s tech in everyday head-based wearables.

The headphones use built-in electroencephalography (EEG) sensors to monitor brain waves. That information is sent to a companion app and lets wearers know when they need a “brain break,” nudging them to take a breather before they feel burnt out to maximize productivity. The app also lets users discover their cognitive readiness for the day, their brain age, and other metrics, such as mental recovery, cognitive strain, and anxiety resilience. WIRED staff writer Emily Mullin tested the original headphones in 2024, though she found it difficult to verify the accuracy of Neurable’s algorithms.

Now, HP-owned gaming brand HyperX is releasing a gaming headset with Neurable’s technology, and it’s all about improving human performance while esports gaming. The headphones are purported to help wearers ease into the right state of mind for the best performance. Ramses Alcaide, Neurable cofounder and CEO, tells WIRED that the company has published a white paper showing improved performance among gamers using Neurable’s tech, with reduced response times in first-person shooter games and a small increase in accuracy.

The improvements may sound minor, but milliseconds are precious in the fast-paced world of esports gaming. And Alcaide says it could translate similarly to other fields: It could help a student reduce anxiety before an exam, while athletes could condition their nerves ahead of a race or game. Neurable is hardware-agnostic; Alcaide says it can be embedded in headphones, smart glasses, hats, or helmets. “There’s a whole landscape of technology that touches your head that’s yet to be embedded with our platform,” he says.

He likens it to when Fitbit made the idea of a wrist-worn heart-rate tracker popular. In the beginning, no one knew how fitness wearables would be received, but now no one blinks an eye at one on a wrist. Soon, no one will think twice about brain-scanning tech in headphones—or, at least, that’s the idea. Neurable’s tech is “invisible” in these types of gadgets.

Companies licensing Neurable’s tech can integrate it into existing hardware, Alcaide says, and will control the entire experience from product design to the software experience; these products will be advertised as “Powered by Neurable AI.” The user data still flows to Neurable’s servers for processing, but Neurable sets the data privacy protections. User identifiers are separated from the data, and while partner companies host the user-facing layer, Neurable says it keeps control of the underlying system and data handling. Neurable has previously said its business model is not to sell user data.

“Any time there’s a new transition to technology, there’s always going to be some anxiety,” Alcaide says. “We’ve been very careful when it comes to that transition. We’re protecting the data, being as ethical as possible.”

Neurable is one of many brain-computer interface (BCI) companies in the growing category. Elemind uses EEGs to improve sleep quality, and Sabi wants to turn thoughts into text. Even Apple filed a patent for EEG-sensing AirPods, though they’re not yet available.