In Singapore, there are no lack of enthusiastic entrepreneurs trying to solve problems faced in our daily lives. Ranging from making getting around easier for you, having on demand groceries or on demand delivery services, there are dedicated entrepreneurs trying to solve these problems.
Here’s one that might be interesting for you – ensuring the health of your brain.
Founded by Eddie Chau, a serial entrepreneur who exited his previous company Brandtology, along with his other cofounders, Neeuro is a Mind Wellness technology company with a wearable to help in mind stimulation for a healthier mind and a happier life.
When we sat down with Kelly, the Chief Marketing Officer of Neeuro, Kelly explained to us what Neeuro is, “we want to create a brain operating system,” a term that might be foreign to some of us.
Before we dwell into Neeuro, here’s a quick background on the problem Neeuro is trying to solve: for the longest time, brain wellness is something that most of us do not pay much attention to, simply because there are no accessible and affordable solutions out there in the market. Prior to this, the only way to examine your brain activity was through the EEG Cap.
This:
“There are various enrichment programs via the EEG caps in Singapore to help increase cognitive functions of those who need it, but no one is solving it through technology. These existing programmes are also not consumer friendly and accessible, as each program dedicated to improving brain wellness can easily cost a few thousand dollars,” Kelly shared with Vulcan Post.
After more than two years of research and development, Neeuro reduces that scary view with an EEG cap into something that is classier, and is available as a hardware that you can wear directly on your head at your convenience. At a price point of US$299 (it is currently available for free on its crowdfunding campaign), this is way more affordable than most of the existing solutions out there in the market.
Here’s how it looks:
Once you put on Neeuro’s headband, on your head of course, it will read your brain activity and register them so that you can understand the health of your brain. The hardware, which is then paired with the Neeuro app, comes with games to stimulate and strengthen the mind. These games are carefully designed by neuroscientists, game developers and data scientists.
There are five main cognitive functions you can improve through these Neeuro games: memory, attention, decision making, multi tasking as well as special skills.
“By playing simple games, it helps to monitor and improve your concentration levels and mental agility. It can be used by the elderly and even youngsters who, in today’s wired world with so many distractions, may find it difficult to concentrate,” Dr Alvin Chan, the company’s Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer told IDA.
Is It Safe To Use?
One of the biggest concern we had was whether Neeuro is safe to use, since we are putting a device which register our brainwave after all – will it fry our brain or not?
Kelly assured us that it is safe to use, as Neeuro is a non evasive device similar to how you would use the thermometer to measure a thermometer. Neeuro can be used for all ages from children to seniors, for your own self and your loved ones.
“We are targeting customers between 30 to 50 years old, who would be getting Neeuro for either their kids to help them learn faster, or for their parents, so that their cognitive functions don’t degenerate as fast,” Kelly shared with Vulcan Post.
The Future
The biggest challenge now though, is how can Neeuro get people to start taking care of their brain, just as they would take care of their physical wellness.
“The marketing challenge is how do we get people to remember to also exercise their brains, and to know that if you spend some time doing that, you can slow down the cognitive decline,” Kelly told Vulcan Post.
“Just as fitness trackers such as Fitbit and Jawbone allow users to track their physical activities, we want to do the same with Neeuro for cognitive functions,” added Kelly.
Of course, if Neeuro works and become mainstream, here’s what we will see – kids and parents will be using Neeuro to monitor and exercise their wellness, and individual users will be able to identify which cognitive functions they will need to pay more attention to. Younger Neeuro users will have improved cognitive features and be smarter, and for the older and matured Neeuro users, they can also monitor their brain so that it can age slower.
With a team of 15, you can definitely bet on Eddie, Kelly and his team to make Neeuro work, not just in Singapore, but globally to those that needs it. Neeuro is currently available on Indiegogo, where you can get the hardware and give it a spin. Within less than 24 hours since the crowdfunding campaign launched, Neeuro is currently featured as a trending project on Indiegogo, and the early bird entitlement has all been snapped up.
So, will you be part of the early supporters of Neeuro who’s on the mission to help everyone keep their brain healthy?
