Can a pair of headphones help you focus?

Do you swear you do your best work at 1am while listening to power ballads? A pair of headphones might be able to confirm that.

Boston-based Neurable Inc. partnered with headphone manufacturer Master & Dynamic to develop the MW75 Neuro, a wireless headset equipped with electroencephalography (EEG) sensors — i.e., sensors that record brain activity.

The idea is that the headphones, priced at $699 ($100 more than a similar pair of Master & Dynamic headphones without the tech), will track your brainwaves and help you focus.

How it works 

Users wear the headphones like any other pair. The headphones’ volume will increase when users are less focused as a nudge to recenter, and decrease when users are in the zone, but more importantly, users will receive daily and real-time data via Neurable’s app about how, when, and where they focus best. 

• These insights can help users figure out things like what music best keeps them on task, the best time to drink coffee or work out, and when they need to take brain breaks.
• In her review of Neurable, ZDNet’s Jada Jones found taking a brain break when the app told her to versus when she felt tired improved her productivity throughout the day.
• Users also receive a daily brain health report, which includes their “brain age,” including cognitive speed, performance, stress, fatigue, etc.
• According to Jessica Randazza-Pade, Neurable VP of marketing and communications, that report can be used to understand how things like sleep (or lack thereof), alcohol, stress, and other factors affect mental processing. 

Neurable CEO and co-founder Dr. Ramses Alcaide told The Hustle that, as someone with ADHD, the tech has helped him track his focus and prevent distraction. 

“I now know what it’s like to be locked into focus, and so I can replicate that feeling in my head whenever I need to get into deep work,” he said. 

Wearable tech… 

… was a market worth an estimated $84.2B in 2024 and is expected to reach $186B+ by 2030.

People are increasingly willing to invest in tech that can help them modify and improve wellness. Beyond wearables, there’s Eight Sleep’s $6k+ sleep system and myriad apps designed to track our workouts, sleep, and everything else.

Focus tech is a smaller market than fitness, but Neurable isn’t the only company in the game. Neurosity sells Crown, a device that sits over your head that it claims will improve concentration by tracking brainwaves and choosing appropriate audio — but that one starts at ~$1.3k.