in Geordie star trek Wears a visor, an arc-shaped gadget over his eyes and temples, which grants him sight. Tam Vu, Franz’s founder and CEO, wears the Brainband on his forehead—a gadget that looks an awful lot like a visor—to help him sleep at night and focus during the day. The future is here.
The Franz Brainband(opens in a new tab) Vu told Mashable at CES 2023 that it talks to you when you fall asleep, and not in a disturbing way. fall asleep fast So it might encourage you to imagine that you are on a beach, listening to the sound of waves crashing. If that scares you, Franz knows, because it’s constantly monitoring your heart rate and brain activity — and will adapt its language and recordings until you’re snoozing. Once you fall asleep, the sounds stop, says Wu, but the machine still gathers information about you.
credit: Courtesy of Franz Brainband
The device is surprisingly comfortable—easily better than the dozen or so heatless curlers I’ve tried sleeping in. The noise reaches your brain through bone-conduction speakers that look like a tiny plastic sea anemone. That little sea creature can also act as an alarm clock.
During the day, the Franz Brainband is useful too, using the same technology that helps you fall asleep to keep you focused on the task at hand. It collects all that data and uses it to give you feedback on your sleep and focus, such as what times your attention falters the most or offers suggestions for falling asleep faster.
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Even though it’s intended to be useful 24/7, you can’t keep it running all the time. The battery lasts about five hours if you’re listening to sounds continuously, but up to 12 hours if you’re just using it for brain tracking, such as when you’re trying to sleep. But, Wu said, it only takes about 45 minutes to fully charge.
The Franz Brainband Will Soon Go On Sale For $490 — But If You Pre-Order It(opens in a new tab)You can reduce that price by a few hundred bucks.
