What if the music you listen to could instantly soothe and calm your body?
Some may argue that it already does that, but new earbuds called Nervana are designed to specifically target the body's "pleasure center." Now, your music can definitively sync up to your body's "feel good" nerves.
Nervana was created by a team of doctors and researchers, led by Richard Cartledge, Daniel Cartledge, Ami Brannon and Gregory Mayback. Richard and Daniel Cartledge had originally become fascinated by Vagus nerve stimulation, which revolves around the idea of utilizing electrical impulses on the body.
"Vagus nerve stimulation has been studied for decades," said Richard Cartledge. "We wanted to bring the wellness benefits of Vagus nerve stimulation to more people in a non-invasive way that is easy for consumers to use on a daily basis. That's what Nervana is all about: making people feel good."
Nervana is just one of many products being developed by the team of Nervana LLC, but it's already making headway. The wearable earbuds deliver an electrical wave through the left ear canal to stimulate the Vagus nerve in sync with the music being streamed. This creates a calming effect, according to Nervana's developers, and stimulates neurotransmitters. The right earbud receives only the right channel of music signal.
Depending on what users want to achieve, there are three different modes to choose from: Music, Ambient and Formula. Music Mode triggers the Nervana generator to analyze music signal and create an output that encourages Vagus nerve stimulation. Ambient Mode does the same, but with sounds from the environment. Formula Mode is based on pre-defined nerve stimulation signal patterns, which can be selected by the user.
"Nervana can be used at any time," the creators state on the earbuds' Indiegogo page. "During a stressful day, after an intense workout, at a concert or any time you want to replace tension with feelings of well-being. Based on our testing, we recommend sessions of 15 to 45 minutes twice daily to promote wellness and balance."
Thus far, the device has been tested on hundreds of adults, and the team has not seen any safety issues. The first Nervana earbuds will begin shipping out before the summer of 2016.
