The next gadget that you put on your head could scan your brain. Neurablea Boston-based company that integrates its non-invasive brain scanning technology into hardware to monitor a person’s concentration levels, announced Tuesday that it is moving to a licensing platform model. By third-party certification, Neurable expects its technology to be immersed in a “flood” of consumer gadgets this year and next.
Neurable has so far focused its efforts on a pair of consumer headphones—made in partnership with the 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 head injuries in soldiers. With the licensing model, we could see more of Neurable technology in everyday wearable devices.
The headphones use built-in electroencephalography (EEG) sensors to monitor brain waves. This information is sent to a companion app and lets users know when they need a “brain break,” prompting them to take a break before they feel exhausted to maximize their productivity. The app also allows users to discover their cognitive preparedness for the day, brain age, and other metrics, such as mental recovery, cognitive strain, and anxiety resilience. WIRED editor Emily Mullin tested the original headphones in 2024although it had difficulty verifying the accuracy of Neurable’s algorithms.
Today, HP-owned gaming brand HyperX is launching a gaming headset with Neurable’s technology, and it’s about improving human performance during esports gaming. The headphones are supposed to help users get in the right mindset for the best performance. Ramses Alcaide, co-founder and CEO of Neurable, tells WIRED that the company has released a white paper showing improved performance among players using Neurable’s technology, with reduced response times in first-person shooters and a slight increase in accuracy.
The improvements may seem minor, but milliseconds are precious in the fast-paced world of esports gaming. And Alcaide says it could translate similarly to other areas: It could help a student reduce anxiety before an exam, while athletes could condition their nerves before a race or match. Neurable is hardware agnostic; Alcaide says it can be integrated into headphones, smart glasses, hats or helmets. “There’s a whole technology landscape that hits you in the head that hasn’t been integrated into our platform yet,” he says.
He likens this to when Fitbit popularized the idea of a wrist-worn heart rate tracker. At first, no one knew how fitness wearables would be received, but now no one blinks an eye when it comes to a wrist-worn device. Soon, no one will think twice about brain-scanning technology built into earbuds — or at least, that’s the idea. Neurable’s technology is “invisible» in this type of gadgets.
Companies that license Neurable technology can integrate it with existing hardware, Alcaide says, and will control the entire experience, from product design to software experience; these products will be advertised as “Powered by Neurable AI”. User data continues to flow to Neurable’s servers for processing, but Neurable sets data privacy protections. User identifiers are separated from the data, and while partner companies host the user-facing layer, Neurable says it maintains control of the underlying system and data processing. Neurable already said its business model is not to sell user data.
“Whenever there is a new transition to technology, there will always be some anxiety,” says Alcaide. “We have been very careful during this transition. We are protecting the data, being as ethical as possible.”
Neurable is one of many Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Companies in the growing category. Elements uses EEGs to improve sleep quality, and Sabi wants to turn her thoughts into text. Even Apple has filed a patent for EEG-sensing AirPods, although they aren’t available yet.
Damien Coyle, director of Bath Institute for Augmented Humans at the University of Bath, says there is potential for this type of BCI because people don’t understand when their performance is winning.
“Particularly in e-gamers or high-performance gamers, their reaction times are measured in milliseconds, and any small improvement in focus or reaction ability and ways to maintain that for longer periods of time should definitely provide benefits,” says Coyle. “Translate that into high-stakes decision-making among staff, and it could certainly be beneficial.”
It’s not yet clear when HyperX’s Neurable headset will land. Alcaide says he expects a few Neurable partnerships to be announced this year, and more in 2027.
