Why We’d Love to Try the Emotiv EPOC

If you’re regular on  Techcrunch or Wired, chances are you’ve heard of the company called Emotiv. They’re a bioinformatics company and inventor of the future-tech EPOC and Insight wearable devices. Emotiv is at the forefront of technologies that evolve human-computer interaction, through the use of affordable, consumer focused EEG headsets. At Lucid, we’re always on the lookout for ways to improve our cognition or devices that teach us how to focus more.

The brilliant minds behind Emotiv have origins in Australia, where they were originally launched as Emotiv Systems in 2003. The company was founded by tech entrepreneurs and neuro scientists Tan Le, Nam Do, Allan Snyder, and Neil Weste. In 2010 they launched the EPOC headset to much fanfare, which Tan Le introduced to an Oxford University audience in a 2010 TED Talks presentation.

In case you couldn’t tell, we at Lucid are passionate about body betterment, neuro-enhancement, productivity & focus. To be kept up to date on any other blogs or infographics, add yourself to our community mailing list.

The then called Emotiv Systems folded in 2010 and was relaunched in the US as Emotiv in 2011. Since then, Emotiv has crowdfunded their way into development and public launch of the Insight headset. Emotiv’s current product lineup, consisting of the 14-channel EPOC and 5-channel Insight offers more value and real-world applications than any other consumer-priced EEG headsets on the market.

How does an Electroencephalogram (EEG) work?

An Electroencephalogram (EEG) is a test used to detect electrical activity of the brain. The procedure tracks and records brain wave patterns within adults, kids or even animals. In a typical device, small metal discs with thin wires (electrodes) are placed on the scalp and are applied using a conductive gel. Once the unit is calibrated, the unit then send signals to a computer to record the results.

A typical EEG measures voltage fluctuations resulting from ionic current within the neurons of the brain, this means that the mental state and neuro activity of a subject can be tracked and studied for research purposes. In clinical contexts, an EEG refers to the recording of the brain’s spontaneous electrical activity over a period of time and is typically shown in a line graph.

Just by recording and analysing the surface level brain activity, we can learn about how the brain functions in various situations, how active it gets and even programme it understand commands such as push, pull and turn, handy for controlling a Tesla with your mind:

How does Emotiv improve on medical EEGs?

The team at Emotiv identified that a problem existed when scientists wanted to study brain activity in real world situations. Whereas traditional medically-sourced EEG units include upwards of 100 sensors and look like a swimming cap, Emotiv condensed the sensors into just 14 sensors using an adjustable, wearable headset. This means that a test subject could be studied whilst gaming, whilst at work or at home, or even during physical activity like chess, cycling or sex.

According to a feature article on Vice.com, the launch of Emotiv and other low-cost EEG wearables has fueled the growth of related industries such as neuromarketing, the emerging “science” of better understanding the brain’s subconscious reactions in the hopes of making more effective advertisements.

Emotiv has successfully leveraged their distribution and user network of developers, consumers and scientists around the world, gathering thousands of results helping improve the quality and accuracy of the unit.

How can an EPOC help our research?

At Lucid, we’re constantly pushing for new ways to measure and test our product. To date, we have provided over 100 Lucid Smart Pill samples to CEOs, entrepreneurs, salespeople and stay at home parents, gathering priceless insights into effectiveness of our product and it’s benefits.

As smart drugs further enter the realm of mainstream consumers, the research behind cognitive enhancers like Lucid is well  is underway. We’re passionate about the positive impact our product can have for people and studying the neurological activity and feedback using a device like the EPOC is a primary objective of ours.

The depth of our customers’ feedback has made our product development journey a wonderfully enlightening and challenging one. Staying true to our community-inspired product development of the Focus formulas means the next step for us is to further enhance the detail of our testing through EEG units like EPOC. Stay tuned for further details!

In case you couldn’t tell, we at Lucid are passionate about body betterment, neuro-enhancement, productivity & focus. To be kept up to date on any other blogs or infographics, add yourself to our community mailing list.