Skip to main content

Meet the woman making brainwave control look more like meditation and less like the Matrix

Ariel Garten-LeWeb12-credit Kmeron
Image used with permission by copyright holder

What does it take to lead one of the most promising companies in the budding field of brainwave-controlled computing? It’s a bit hard to say, because Ariel Garten wrote her own road map to get there. With a background spanning fashion design, neuroscience, and psychotherapy, she’s about as interdisciplinary as they come. And as a female innovator in tech, she has long been in the spotlight for the unique blend of talents she brings to the table.

Now, as CEO of InteraXon, Garten – along with co-founders Trevor Colemen and Chris Aimone – has fused interests in both art and science to develop Muse. This sleek, streamlined headband aims to transmit the brain’s electrical signals directly to tablets, computers, and appliances. Still find it mindblowing to reach out and touch your laptop screen? Just imagine controlling your apps with nothing but your mind itself.

Back at CES 2013, we covered Muse’s mind-exercise demos, and were so curious that we headed straight to the source to learn more about what makes this futuristic tech thrilling.

Right brain, meet left brain

ArielGarten2
Image used with permission by copyright holder

For Garten, creative expression and scientific inquiry have never been the opposites that some make them out to be. “My mother is an artist, so things were always created in front of me,” Garten said. Drawing inspiration from the enormous oil paintings created by her mother, Vivian Reiss, Garten started a clothing line in high school, and went on to eventually open Toronto Fashion Week with her line.

At the same time, as a biochemistry student in college, Garten worked in scientific labs researching mind-technology interaction. Under Dr. Steve Mann, a pioneer in cybernetics and wearable computers, she experimented with using brain activity to trigger musical playback. Already, she says, she was hooked on “the idea of brainwaves, [and] how they carried both scientific and emotional information.”

Tapping into the brain’s self-awareness

“It’s really darn cool to be able to see inside your mind,” Garten said. After years of demonstrating brainwave-controlled devices with Dr. Mann, Garten decided she wanted to bring that pure coolness to a wider audience. She co-founded InteraXon with Coleman and Aimone, and the trio immediately started developing commercial prototypes, which eventually lead to the creation of Muse.

AGarten LevitatingChair
Image used with permission by copyright holder

So what does a mind-controlled headband do, exactly? “It helps you alleviate negative things, like relieve stress and reduce anxiety,” says Garten. “It’s also about human performance and human potential. It improves your capabilities. It helps you express yourself in new, creative ways.”

One early prototype even involved a so-called levitating chair. After hooking up an egg-shaped chair to a motor-controlled winch, developers programmed the winch to respond only to calm, meditative brainwave patterns from a mind-controlled headband. Then, as the subject put on the headband, sat in the chair, and managed to slip into a state of relaxation, the chair would slowly rise toward the ceiling, accompanied by a satisfying sound effect.

The science at play

Brain-sensing technology may seem straight out of Minority Report, but there’s some pretty solid science to back it up. According to Garten, “there’s a whole body of research on mindfulness, meditation, and EGG, and on enhancing cognitive abilities with EEG.” Basically, EEG sensors detect electrical signals created by neurons firing in the brain, and interpret those signals as different kinds of brainwaves, depending on their frequency.

In other words, this technology can’t “read your mind” – at least, not in the sense of knowing what you ate for breakfast. What it can do is enhance mindfulness in much the same way as traditional meditation, making users more aware of their state of mind and how to replicate it in the future. As Garten puts it, it encourages a “meditative quality that leads you to be very present so that you can feel your emotions fully, but effectively.”

brainwaves
Image used with permission by copyright holder

One outside study that Garten particularly admired looked at the minds of surgeons who were performing a mock surgery. “They were able to track brainwave patterns associated with effective surgery,” Garten said. In a similar way, she hopes her technology will use principles of mindfulness to help users better understand their emotions and increase their cognitive ability. “It’s really an agent of change to help you understand what’s going on in your mind.”

Indeed, brainwave-sensing technology shows remarkable promise for enabling those with ADHD gain control over their ability to focus. It may also help sports professionals concentrate, and help retired individuals maintain cognition. Of course, much like a good yoga session, it has the potential to help everyone from business professionals to new mothers regain a sense of balance.

Enter Muse: the IndieGoGo Campaign

“People are always very enthused about what we do,” Garten said. Yet, she was still blown away by the response to the Indigogo campaign to fund the Muse headband. The crowdsourcing campaign raised more than $287,000, far surpassing the original $150,000 goal. “What amazed me were the hundreds and hundreds of comments,” Garten said. “This was one of the first times we were able to really engage with our community of potential users.”

Muse2
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The wildly successful campaign transformed InteraXon’s ambitious brain-sensing technology from potential vaporware into an imminent reality. Now slated for release late this year, the sleek, pre-orderable Muse comes in black or white, and slips over the temples to hook behind the ears, resembling a modern-age tiara. In fact, The Huffington Post lauded the design as a “fashion-forward device, which even Anna Wintour would conceivably wear.” Ticketed at $199 before tax and shipping, it includes a suite of brain-training apps, including one game that encourages users to “pull” the moon over the sun by alternately relaxing and focusing their thoughts.

A sparkling sci-fi future?

The possible uses of Muse in the future are many. “Oh my god,” Garten said. “There’s so much I want to see!” Whether it comes to playing with remote-controlled cars, creating music setlists, adding photo filters, or painting digital artwork, Garten sees few avenues of computing that couldn’t potentially benefit from brainwave-sensitive inputs. She showcased one recently-developed application at LeWeb 2012 called EmoType, a text editor that changes its font style based on the user’s current state of mind. In a few years, worries over whether someone misinterpreted the tone of your email could be gone for good.

ArielGartenMuse
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Of course, such a radically futuristic technology is bound to raise certain doubts about safety and privacy. But Garten is quick to emphasize InteraXon’s security standards, as well as its ongoing efforts to create an international brainwave ethics body. Besides, she says, “the information we’re getting is not that different from the signal you might get from someone’s heartbeat. That signal gives all kinds of useful information, but it doesn’t tell someone your PIN number.”

In Garten’s vision, brainwave-sensing technology like Muse will simply “give people access to more expanded information,” which may help them become “in some ways, more human.”

Advice to future innovators

To programmers, designers, and engineers hoping to get involved in the world of neuroscience tech – especially women – Garten has a single word of advice: “Start!”

While she acknowledges that her field is male-heavy and she occasionally gets addressed as “Mr. Garten,” Garten says that she feels completely comfortable in her chosen career, and believes the time is ripe for more female innovators. “There are no longer any of the perceived barriers that there were before,” she says. “People are particularly excited to see women succeed in this field right now.”

After all, if mind-controlled interfaces take off the way IBM has predicted, it will be hard to find a more exciting place to be. “There’s an entire world to dive into here,” says Garten. “This is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Photo via @Kmeron for LeWeb12

Mika Turim-Nygren
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Mika Turim-Nygren writes about technology, travel, and culture. She is a PhD student in American literature at the University…
HP Envy deals: HP’s most popular laptop starts at $630
An HP Envy 17-inch laptop sits on an office desk.

A great computer brand to shop if you’re in the market for a new laptop is HP, which is consistently among the best laptop brands. It has several different model lineups to choose from, with the HP Envy laptop lineup offering a good balance of hardware options and pricing. The HP Envy lineup is also a good one to shop because it regularly turns out some impressive laptop deals. That’s certainly the case right now, as there are a lot of HP Envy deals to shop. We’ve rounded up what we feel are the best HP Envy deals currently taking place, so read onward for more information on how to land some savings.
HP Envy x360 2-in-1 laptop 15Z-FH000 — $630, was $900

The HP Envy x360 convertible laptop is a great option for just about anyone, particularly anyone who enjoys the touchscreen functionality of a tablet. It’s well designed and super slim, making it a truly go-anywhere device. Despite its portability, it still has an immersive 15.6-inch touchscreen that’s great for creators, note-takers, and binge watchers. Top notch build quality and durability, fast charging technology, a fingerprint reader, and great battery life round out the top features of the HP Envy x360 convertible touchscreen laptop. It competes well with the best 2-in-1 laptops. Its versatility and all-around capability make it a worthy companion on any desk, and on any lap.

Read more
Best Surface Laptop and Surface Pro deals: From $450
Microsoft Surface Go 3 sitting on table.

If you want a thin and light laptop that's similar to the MacBook Air but not in the Apple ecosystem, then the Microsoft Surface lineup of laptops is absolutely the way to go. In fact, if you've seen the recent unwrapping of the business version of the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6, you might be fired up and ready to grab your own surface. Unfortunately, the Surface lineup can be quite expensive, which is why we've gone out and scoured the retailers for the best deals we could find and collected them below. So, be sure to check out everything, as well as some of these other great laptop deals if you aren't fully committed to the Microsoft Surface lineup.
Microsoft Surface Go 3 -- $450, was $550

Functioning as a 2-in-1 laptop that can switch between tablet mode and laptop mode, the Microsoft Surface Go 3 won't have trouble dealing with basic tasks as it's equipped with the Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y processor and 8GB of RAM. The 10.5-inch touchscreen with 1920 x 1080 resolution is bright and colorful, and its 128GB SSD is more than enough for your documents. The Microsoft Surface Go 3 ships with Windows 11 Home in Mode, so you can start using it as soon as you unbox it. The device also promises up to 11 hours of battery life before requiring a recharge.

Read more
Best GPU deals: MSI, XFX, EVGA
An AMD graphics card in an external GPU enclosure.

If you're building a new PC from scratch, or upgrading an old one, then a new GPU is probably one of the biggest upgrades you can make, at least if you're looking for great gaming performance. Unfortunately, the last generation of RTX 40-series cards really amped the prices up, and even if you're going for AMD, you're going to be paying a pretty penny to get your hands on a good GPU. That said, there are some good deals to be had; whether you want something budget-friendly or high-end, you can always put that extra money you save into more RAM or a better CPU. Also, be sure to check out some of these gaming PC deals if you'd rather just grab something already pre-built.
MSI AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT Mech 2X 4GB GDDR6 -- $175, was $190

If you're looking for something that is ultra-budget, then this RX 6500 XT is a good option in the lower range and should let you handle at least some of the main free-to-play games like CS:GO and Rocket League, although you will have to play with graphical compromises. It should also handle indie and casual games, especially older ones like the ones you might find on emulators, so it's also a good option for that sort of budget build. the 4GB of VRAM is not a lot, but again, if you're not planning to play any modern AAA or AA games, then this isn't a bad option.

Read more