Thync plans to release its first wearable device next year. This isn't your average fitness monitor, however. This is for your mind.
The device is reportedly being made to alter the wearer's state of mind, much like caffeine or exercise does.
In order to fund the project, the company has raised $13 million from venture capitalists. Not only that, but Samir Kaul from Khosla Ventures has joined the board of the company.
The company started the project three years ago by trying to combine neuroscience with consumer products in an attempt to create a headgear product that users can wear for a few minutes and feel noticeably different afterward. Using ultrasound and electricity applied to certain parts of the head, the company says it can induce feelings of calmness or energy.
The device, says the company, will have a look that will be "unexpected, and not what you'd imagine." While the device will be regulated, Thync plans on selling it as a consumer device, which means it will be more easily made available to the public than things like new medicine.
The company is not yet ready to show off a product to the public.
This is not the first company to combine neuroscience and wearable technology. Earlier this year, Halo Neuroscience announced that it had acquired $1.5 million in funding.
"Halo makes a technology that stimulates brain function in sick people and healthy people. It makes the brain work better [and offers] a wide range of potential effects from accelerating learning to improving body movement control," said Amol Sava, a consumer mobile expert. "The company isn't saying exactly what they are working on first but the field is a big new area -- not just sensing things in the brain or 'reading' it, but sending waves into the brain and 'writing' to it."
Thync has been conducting clinical trials in a Boston office for the past 18 months. Over 2,000 people have taken part in the trial. It seems as though the technology as it is now works for some and not others, however with the company still developing the product it is possible that it could be altered to work with a wider range of users. Two out of three users, however, say the effects of the device are not simply the placebo effect.
