Half an hour before bed, Adnan Jinnah sits on a chair and straps on a headband. It looks like something a tennis player might wear, save for a large rectangular button on the front. When he feels ready to sleep, he lies down, presses the button, and starts an app on his phone. “That’s pretty much it,” he says.
As he sleeps, sensors in the device pick up Jinnah’s brain activity, heart rate, and blood flow and oxygen to his brain. The signals are then interpreted by algorithms that spit out data on his sleep quality that he can look at in the morning.
The device, known as a Muse headband, was developed by the Canadian consumer neurotechnology company Interaxon. On and off for more than 4 years Jinnah, who lives in Leicester, England, has had trouble falling asleep. He says daily reports from the device allow him to monitor how well he slept the night before and how poor sleep affects his mood. It also provides him with long-term data about his sleep that have helped him understand how different factors, including medication or stress, can influence his rest.
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