I Scanned My Mind With Headphones to Gauge My Stress While Gaming

Up in a lodge room throughout CES 2026, I sat down at a gaming laptop computer to play a target-practice program. After testing my first-person shooter abilities, I placed on headphones lined with capacitive bands that learn my mind exercise, and on the laptop computer display screen, a visualization of my psychological stress slowly diminished as I did some relaxed respiration. I attempted the goal observe once more and, voila, I did higher.

Neurable, the corporate behind the software program, has been scanning brains for a decade to analysis troopers’ mind exercise for the US Army. The firm not too long ago launched its brain-computer interfaces as over-ear headphones like those I wore. But at this yr’s CES, it showcased a brand new frontier for his or her analysis: enhancing avid gamers’ efficiency by exhibiting their mind exercise throughout intense play classes.

It’s half of a bigger development towards software program and {hardware} designed to raise gameplay. But not like different options, like Microsoft’s Copilot for Gaming and Razer’s Project Ava, which act like AI assistants that will help you via a troublesome stage, Neurable’s insights to avid gamers do not depend on AI that watches the way you play. Instead, it exhibits gamers what’s taking place of their brains to allow them to refocus and enhance their gameplay. 

Neurable is not releasing the software program powering these mind insights — Prime and Broadcast — publicly. Instead, it is in search of companions to pair that software program with merchandise which have BCI contacts in-built, just like the Master & Dynamic headphones I wore. While these include focus-tracking and brain-health options that let you know when to take breaks, neither of them, nor the Neurable-powered HyperX headphones introduced at CES 2026, has the complete brain-scanning-while-gaming software program that I used to be pitched. 

Neurable’s objective and design are intriguing. Who would not need mind insights to enhance their gaming efficiency? But it relies on which firms accomplice with Neurable to launch devices utilizing their conductive tech. Ideally, the corporate desires each Neurable machine to have entry to all of the focus-tracking, psychological efficiency software program it releases. 

A fast pattern of brain-training for higher gaming

Neurable’s greatest objective with avid gamers is to cut back their cognitive load by visualizing it, each in warmups and in the midst of tense matches. I skilled the previous in individual, however solely noticed screenshot examples for the latter, which is applied in software program known as Broadcast. That platform brings up further gauges on-screen that allow gamers see how their mind is doing in the event that they’re annoyed or simply want a second to relax out. Both software program proposals will seemingly be finalized when Neurable finds an organization to accomplice up with to make a bespoke BCI-packing product (headphones, earbuds, sensible glasses or in any other case). 

“We essentially are able to help you visualize those kinds of things, like focus, your cognitive load and what’s impacting you, and then be able to not only provide you the feedback, but then also enable you to provide [it] to your streaming [viewers],” stated Ramses Alcaide, co-founder and CEO of Neurable. 

Neurable has refined its warm-up process that preps gamer brains for higher efficiency: its Prime software program, which I skilled within the Vegas lodge room. Its easy enchancment circuit had me attempting out the Gridshot train within the standard goal observe software program Aimlabs, wherein I shot randomly showing spheres for a full minute. Then I popped open Prime, which measured my mind exercise and visualized it as a big globe of interconnected dots that slowly shrank as I manually calmed my respiration. After that, I attempted Gridshot once more, and my total rating improved round 4,000 factors, my response time went down by 44 milliseconds, and I shot 10 extra targets — a strong enchancment.

That’s about in keeping with the outcomes Neurable’s seen with its take a look at samples. In a white paper revealed shortly earlier than CES, 25 gamers surveyed via 34 of those take a look at classes diminished their response time by about 40ms on common, Alcaide stated, in addition to elevated the variety of targets hit. 

“It’s really key, because normally gamers have to choose between reaction time and target hit, but because we’re creating this capacity and cognitive load, it’s actually enabled them to essentially improve both areas,” Alcaide stated.

Could I’ve improved simply as a lot if I had closed my eyes and completed a easy respiration train as an alternative? Possibly. But all of the research that Neurable analysis scientist Alicia Howell-Munson pored over confirmed that each focus and cognitive load have an effect on in-game efficiency — not simply lowering stress, however locking in. 

“So the thing with just meditation is that generally, it will relax you. It may not increase your focus, though. Or if it’s increasing your focus, you might be stressed trying to hone in on that,” Howell-Munson stated. 

In any case, I appreciated having Prime’s visible globe to look at shrink as I calmed myself — and to ensure it was really attentive to my psychological load, I deliberately flooded my mind with ideas about all my deadlines and stressors (of which CES had many). The condensed ball began to increase a bit, presumably reacting to my exasperation. I did not inform Alcaide that I used to be doing it deliberately, and he chalked it as much as the stress avid gamers would possibly really feel when getting near breaking a report or clinching a match.

“So [Prime] helps you practice those moments and manage your emotion and your mental load so that when you’re actually doing it, you can do better,” Alcaide stated. “All of that is to give you feedback on your brain because it’s so hard to feel it out yourself.”

That real-time suggestions is the core of Neurable’s worth proposition. While there’s apparent profit for high-performance gamers like esports professionals who would severely profit from trimming 40ms off their response time, informal gamers might harness that suggestions to not enhance their gameplay, however their enjoyment. For avid gamers who do not have a lot time to play, it may be exhausting to depart life’s stress behind and be mentally current throughout their leisure time.

“What if I can maximize the hour that I have, feel great about how well I played, and at least know I did the best I could, given the limitations I have and be able to do that consistently?” Alcaide stated. With Neurable, even gamers who aren’t involved about their efficiency can recenter and benefit from the restricted low-stakes play they will match into their days. 

Neurable’s pivot to measure gamer brains

Neurable was based in 2016 as a analysis group on the University of Michigan and labored on brain-input in VR and AR earlier than pivoting to BCIs in standard wearables. 

When contemplating “measuring brain activity,” I consider science fiction-style huge steel cages that wrap round my skull that hook up with my brow through huge coin-sized conductors affixed to my pores and skin with a dollop of gooey gel. Neurable’s been engaged on much less onerous strategies of measuring mind exercise: utilizing conductive stripes on the earcups of headphones, which take readings from different elements of the mind than the conductor-and-gel technique (particularly, my frontal lobe via my ears). Then, Neurable’s software program makes use of AI to deduce related information and extrapolate mind exercise. 

In that sense, they are not taking fairly as correct readings because the conductor-and-gel technique, although they are saying they get shut: in a validation paper reporting on a research completed with the US Army, Neurable’s tech had a 90% correlation coefficient in contrast with standard full-scalp electroencephalograms, getting nearly all of the sign, Alcaide stated. Plus, it would not take as lengthy — somewhat than sit for an hour ready for my information to calibrate, Alcaide had me do just a few easy workouts whereas carrying an over-ear headset to get preliminary readings that had been matched with preexisting fashions. 

Neurable says it has years of expertise with Department of Defense contracts, particularly in researching the mind exercise of navy veterans. The firm labored with the US Army to assist develop its proprietary mind metrics to measure troopers’ psychological efficiency and developed its cognitive load algorithm whereas working with the Singapore Air Force, Alcaide stated. 

When I requested why they did not transition right into a extra standard use for mind studying in tech, corresponding to offering insights for equipment like well being wearables, they stated their pivot to gaming was natural. Many of the corporate’s employees are avid gamers themselves, enjoying intense video games just like the technique title StarCraft 2, and inspecting participant exercise is a pure pivot. 

Gamer well being metrics are additionally a much less confirmed area than generic well being wearables, that are saturated with gadgets that observe issues like coronary heart price and blood stress. In distinction, avid gamers are sometimes tech-savvy fanatics who’re early adopters of the subsequent huge know-how. They spend some huge cash to get the {hardware} edge with sooner graphics processing models and extra RAM — it stands to purpose that they’d need insights on find out how to enhance the efficiency of their very own fleshy processing, too. 

If I needed to guess, I’d anticipate avid gamers to choose goal information about what is going on on of their mind somewhat than to get hints and suggestions from AI assistants watching their gameplay. But whether or not avid gamers perceive and embrace Neurable’s proprietary mind metrics, like mind battery and focus, is hard to foretell. These measurements are created by the corporate, and gamers should adapt to understanding what they imply.

For occasion, in the event that they see their mind battery is low, will they cease enjoying for the day? If they discover their focus meter signifies they’re confused and offended (or in gamer parlance, “tilted”), will they take a break to chill down? 

How measuring gamer brains can result in extra psychological efficiency insights

Neurable’s huge focus is on bringing mind insights to avid gamers via tried-and-true headphones, however it’s labored towards different codecs. In its latest work for the US Department of Defense, it used helmet-mounted mind scanning to measure microtraumatic mind accidents when within the neighborhood of explosive blasts. It’s one thing that could possibly be built-in into client merchandise, like measuring impacts in sports activities.

What it’s obsessed with is bringing mind scanning to merchandise apart from over-ear headphones. In truth, Neurable researcher Howell-Munson prefers earbuds a lot that it is already discovered find out how to combine the corporate’s brain-scanning tech into that gadget class, however is ready for a partnership with the precise device-maker. 

While earbuds are doubtless their subsequent frontier, Neurable can also be wanting into making use of its tech to sensible glasses, too — presumably, the corporate might use the stems and ear hooks as conductive surfaces to learn mind exercise. That’s even much less floor space touching the top than the earcups of headphones, so it leads me to surprise how good its AI fashions could be to precisely extrapolate mind exercise from doubtlessly restricted information. 

Bringing mind scanning to earbuds additionally makes me surprise about getting these psychological insights in different elements of my on a regular basis life, past the pc desk. Jessica Randazza-Pade, Neurable’s vice chairman of promoting, famous that the insights could possibly be useful in her aggressive races; I’ve bought a half-marathon developing in a few weeks, the place reminders of my slipping psychological focus might assist me zone again in throughout my future. I’ve already bought loads of health metrics that my Apple Watch Ultra feeds me, however they will solely inform me a lot about my circulation and blood oxygen — not a lot about when my psychological stress spikes and it is time to take a sluggish, chill break.

With just a few minutes of testing Neurable’s mind exercise visualization tech, I can not converse to the long run it is working towards — solely that I really feel a variety of avid gamers would need to strive it out for themselves. Whether that comes eventually relies on one of many greatest pc accent firms in the marketplace, Alcaide teased: Before gamers can really get their palms on Neurable’s brain-scanning-while-gaming software program, “We need to close our negotiations with HP,” he stated.