‘Mind-Reading’ Wearable Device Let’s You Control Your World Without Lifting a Finger

Why change channels with a remote if you can do it with your mind?

Nūrio, made by a Minnesota-based company of the same name, is a wearable device that allows you to control any IoT-enabled appliance through your thoughts. Nūrio captures brain waves via one of the industry’s smallest EEG devices, and uses Bluetooth to wirelessly send that information to your smartphone. There, an app interprets the patterns. Once the nūrio has learned that a particular brain pattern is associated with a request such as, “Preheat the oven to 350 degrees,” it can send the command to your IoT-connected oven, getting it ready to cook a batch of cookies.

But there’s a very practical side to nūrio, too. Users can learn more about their mental health with real-time information. Knowing their states of calmness, attention, and emotional levels can help users better control their mental and physical health. Also, persons with disabilities can use it to more easily interact with the world around them. Nūrio gets the data from three dry skin electrodes, connected to the primary electronics that lightly sit around the perimeter of your ear.

“We aim to provide the world with access to their mental data to help better understand the previously mysterious mind,” said Ian Rowan, nūrio founder and CEO. “We’re entering a new era of leveraging the mind to control the connected world, no matter of a person’s physical abilities."

Protolabs used injection molding to manufacture the full plastic casing of the nūrio device. Once the design is complete, nūrio will work with Protolabs’ CNC machining team to produce its own essential electrodes.

Nūrio wants to make this product available to the general population by keeping costs down. With the help of Protolabs’ Cool Idea Award, nūrio has been able to significantly expedite production. The device is on-track to come to market in mid-2020 for under $229 USD.