A new Internet-connected wearable that claims to shift your state of mind — make you perky during the 3 p.m. daily droop or serene during a bout of anxiety — announced Wednesday it has raised $13 million from investors, a boost for this new, brain-science category of gadgets.
Thync, which is still in testing, calls itself a lifestyle wearable that uses neurosignaling algorithms – brain waves that signal neural pathways – to shift and optimize people s state of mind in areas related to energy, calm, and focus. Menlo Park firm Kholsa Ventures led the round.
We believe that when you conquer your mind, you can conquer your day, said Thync co-founder Isy Goldwasser.
The Los Gatos-based company is the first to combine neuroscience with the growing sector of consumer wearables — which also include Google Glass and Apple s new iWatch– to allow people to quickly and easily transition from a hectic day to a calm time with family, or from a late afternoon lull to an energized evening out, according to a news release. Thync aims to ween people from stimulants such as energy drinks — $12.5 billion per year industry — coffee and alcohol, using technology to instead alter their state of mind.
Thync was developed by neuroscientists and engineers from Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, and was founded in 2011 by Goldwasser, a longtime entrepreneur, and Jamie Tyler, a biological and health systems engineering professor at Arizona State University.
Consumers likely won t be able to buy the gadget anytime soon. Details about Thync s rollout aren t being provided, but the company said it continues to test the product and has already conducted more than 3,000 sessions on 2,000 people. The company joins a $7 billion wearable market.
Screenshot from www.thync.com
