Melon headband prototype (via Melon & kickstarter)
Everyone’s concentration and focus have been broken at one time or another whether it was job related, trying to reading or even trying to remember what you went to the grocery store to get. What triggers these lapses in focus or concentration can be hard to identify which makes preventing them near impossible. A new device currently being funded on Kickstarter aims to help with identifying those causes and help users improve their focus over time. Arye Barnehama and Laura Berman designed the headband, known as Melon, which uses EEG (electroencephalography) to monitor the user’s brain activity. The readout and analysis is done by an associated app that uses algorithms to give the user detailed feedback on how to improve their concentration. The Melon is actually a rebranded and updated version of the Axio band (designed by the same people) that uses three electrodes connected to a NeuroSky BCI (Brain/Computer Interface) microchip that monitors brain activity.
The data is sent wirelessly through a Bluetooth 4.0 connection to the user’s iPhone where it is analyzed by the Melon app that translates the data into mapped-out graph in real-time. The readout lets users know how focused they are at any given time and what may cause distractions in that environment. The data collected by the Melon headband comes primarily from the pre-frontal cortex of the brain and translates to a high readout on the graph when the user is more focused. Users can then input information such as date, time and location to give them an overall picture of when and what type of distractions were encountered to help improve their concentration. The associated app also features an origami folding mini-game that lets users create animals and other objects with their minds which is also used as a focusing tool to help center the mind. The team behind the Melon headband is encouraging app developers (with a soon to be released SDK) to create software that will enable their headband to be used for other things such as controlling automated household systems, used as a game controller or as an accompaniment for other biometric platforms such as Fitbit.
The team has already surpassed their funding goal of $100,000 US and those who have pledged $79 ($129-$159 nets you a special badge while $1,000 gets you a special dinner with the developers) or higher will receive the Melon once development and manufacturing have been completed sometime in August of this year (2013). It will certainly be interesting to see what the modding community will do with the headband once it is released. Hopefully something better than levitating a ball on a cushion of air like the Mindflex.
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