BCI startup Neurable is looking to license its “mind-reading” technology to consumer wearable devices

BCI (brain-computer interface) technology – in which neural signals are routed from a person’s head to a computer – was once the stuff of science fiction, but these days the technology represents a competitive corner of the tech industry. One company racing to commercialize BCI is Neurable, which announced this week that it is looking to license its “mind-reading” technology for consumer wearable devices.

Neurable specializes in “non-surgical” BCI, which distinguishes itself from companies like Neuralink — the startup founded by Elon Musk known for inserting computer chips directly into people’s skulls — in that its product does not require users to undergo brain surgery to enjoy its benefits.

Neurable’s technology works through a combination of electroencephalography (EEG) sensors and signal processing that can scan a user’s brain activity, analyze it using artificial intelligence, and provide information about a person’s cognitive performance.

In December, Neurable raised $35 million in a seed round, which it plans to use to expand the commercialization of its technology. The company announced this week that, as part of its expansion efforts, it is looking to license its technology to a variety of consumer-facing companies.

The idea is that mind-reading technology (which can provide detailed data about how a person’s brain works while they engage in various activities) could be integrated into wearable devices in a number of industries — including health and sports products, productivity tools, and gaming. “Through the Neurable licensing platform, OEMs can integrate AI-powered brain sensing technology directly into existing devices, such as headphones, hats, glasses and headbands, while maintaining full control over product design, user experience and distribution,” the company said in a press release on Tuesday.

Neurable has already strengthened partnerships with a number of companies to test its effectiveness. This includes HP Inc.’s HyperX, a gaming brand, through which it has created a headset designed to help gamers “level up their game by improving focus and performance.” It has also partnered with a company called iMotions, a software platform specializing in human behavior research, to help with the company’s research initiatives.

In an interview, Ramses Alcaide, CEO of Neurable, declined to disclose the new partnerships the company is working on, but said that the company seeks to expand its scope of work across a range of areas.

“In the past, we were very specific about our partnerships,” Alcaide said, noting that Neurable tended to focus on a particular company to prove that a unique business application was worthwhile. Now that they know expectations can be met on a number of fronts, the startup is focusing on scaling itself, he said.

“What we’re doing now is we’re basically saying, ‘Hey, we’ve proven we have great traction,'” Alcaide said. “Like, let’s make this as ubiquitous as heart rate sensors on your wrist, right?”

Despite the “non-invasive” label, brain data is arguably a bit more intimate than information derived from a heart rate sensor, so what kind of privacy protection does a company like Neurable offer?

Alcaide said the company ensures that user data is “protected and anonymized.” The company’s privacy policy provides a variety of different guidelines regarding when and how user data may be accessed and used. “We make sure that we follow HIPAA standards, like we go to great lengths as a lot of startups at our stage will be to make sure that we protect the data, that we encrypt it, that we anonymize it,” Alcaide said.

Does Neurable leverage user neural data to train its AI programs? “We can with user consent, right?” Al-Kayed said. “But we do it in a very specific way.” This specific method involves asking the user if their data can be used for the purposes of certain experiments, Alcaide said. “We do not collect data, we train on it voluntarily or involuntarily,” he said. In other words, this type of data use is completely targeted.

Alcaide said his industry has reached an “inflection point” — where there is finally “a real scalable neurotech business model.” What comes after this inflection point is the big question.