Brain-Tracking Headphones That Claim to Improve Focus

[Pluvious]

Interesting device

Perhaps its most useful feature is to prompt you when to take a break

Neurable defines focus as a time when a person feels absorbed in an activity that requires some degree of skill. That could be working at a computer, playing a video game, preparing for an exam, or engaging in a creative hobby like painting. The headphones work best when you’re stationary; Neurable says if a user is moving around a lot while wearing the headphones, data quality can be low.

Users can earn “focus points” while wearing the device—two for every minute in “high focus” or “medium focus” and one point for each minute in “low focus.” Similar to the 10,000-step goal on many fitness trackers, Neurable sets a goal of 100 focus points each day.

Over the past two weeks, the app provided some insights about my focus levels. For one, it showed that I’m more focused in the mornings—something I already suspected. The app also said I was more focused during my entertainment sessions (when I was reading a book for pleasure) than during my work sessions (sorry to my editors). This might be because working on a computer comes with so many digital distractions or because my job often requires me to switch back and forth between different tasks. Perhaps unsurprisingly, when I was completing just one work task at a time—such as writing this article—as opposed to multitasking, the app registered more high and medium focus minutes.

One afternoon I was using the device for a little over an hour when I heard a voice in the headset: “You’ve earned a brain break.” Alcaide says the device can detect when your focus is starting to decline and that this feature is meant to help people avoid burnout. “We can tell you when to take a break once we start detecting that your brain is fatiguing,” he says. I didn’t feel fatigued, but I went ahead and took a 10-minute break at the app’s suggestion.

https://www.wired.com/story/this-brain-tracking-device-wants-to-help-you-work-smarter/

[surfered]

1. Have they got something that can actually improve focus? I would buy that.

[kimbutgar]

2. TCM had the Brain Storm movie with Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood and it was downright scary

And I immediately thought of those apple glasses and now this headphone. Think of the unexpected consequences!