Technology is advancing at the speed of light and even though China and the West lead ahead, India is not far behind. When the first smartwatch was launched in India, it was all the craze. People are still gaga over smartwatches and the varied benefits it provides. In the last five years, smartwatches have dominated the market because of their ease of access and the various health benefits it offers. Starting from measuring your heart rate to keeping you on track to achieve your exercise goals, smartwatches have done wonders. Ever wondered how it’d be if the same physical health benefits a smartwatch provides could be used for mental health? Well, the wait is over. The future is here and now.

For the first in India, a product like this has launched and a product of this nature has only existed in the States before, developed by two other Western companies. An Indian husband and wife duo, Bhavya Madan(CTO) and Ria Rustagi (CEO) have teamed up to create Neuphony, a product that essentially functions as a smartwatch for the brain. Their mission is to revolutionize the field of brain health through neurofeedback and BCI technology. When Ria lost her older sister in 2020, because of a rare brain infection, she was heartbroken and realized that medical science in India is still lagging behind when it comes to one of the most vital parts of our body - the brain. It was then that she embarked on this mission and fought relentlessly to set up her own company. She studied Integrated Circuit Design in Singapore and Germany and her counterpart, Bhavya Madan has studied Embedded Systems in Germany and used his knowledge of neuroscience and embedded systems to join the dots between neurofeedback and meditation. Recently the couple pitched their product in the popular Indian reality show, Shark Tank and was able to impress and secure a hefty investment from the judges/entrepreneurs.

Now, coming to the functionality of the product, Neuphony is India's first and only brain wearable headband that makes use of EEG data of your brain and neurofeedback to help you reduce stress, and anxiety and helps you improve focus, attention span, etc., to help achieve overall well-being. They have a simple-to-use mobile app that gets connected to the headband and provides you with all information about your focus, distractions, relaxation and stress, PDR, Mood, etc. It comes with 8 Dry-EEG sensors which cover the three lobes of the brain. The mobile application, based on the data it collects from your brain, recommends meditation techniques to help you achieve your desired state. The application also tracks your brain activity during the session and when you deviate, it provides real-time auditory feedback. The company’s headquarters are located in Noida and Neuphony is a CE-certified, ROHS-compliant, ISO-certified product.

The Neuphony headband is currently priced between ₹50,000 to ₹ 57,000. The price is pretty steep for the average Indian consumer but this is because the sensors that are inbuilt into the headband have to be imported from the West. There are no Indian companies that manufacture it yet but the founders are working on bringing the price down. The product can also be rented for a stipulated period of time.

There are some who have critiqued it by saying that the product has not yet stood the test of time. While that is true, it is worth noting that the company is relatively new and so far, has only been able to research a small group of test subjects but that has yielded positive results. Many people also may think that it is an “unnecessary product” that will not provide any long-term benefits. However, every new innovation is treated with scrutiny at first, before it makes it big. Personally, I believe that healthcare fused with technology will lead to a more aware and brighter future.

You can find out more about Neuphony here.

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