In this world of constant engagement and stresses, it can get difficult to take some time out and relax. While there are many ways to unwind and get a step ahead of burnout, we don’t really know how well they work. Now, the Eindhoven-based startup AlphaBeats has come up with a new technology that can quantify if you really are relaxed and if not, it can help you wind down. The new technology aims at enabling stress management and is based on neurofeedback.
Measuring real-time brain activity
Anyone hardly thinks about any scientific parameters while taking a break, whereas AlphaBeats measures real-time brain activity. When we relax, our brain emits alpha waves and the startup has come up with a new biofeedback technology that measures real-time brain activity and the company’s algorithm modifies a person’s music to help them relax. This is apparently done in just 10 minutes.
“We live in a world that seems to have forgotten how to relax,” says Han Dirkx, AlphaBeats’ CMO. “Our brain and nervous system live in a perpetual state of arousal and stimulation. And we hardly give ourselves the opportunity to truly relax.” The new stress management solution was recently showed off at HighTechXL´s XL Day where Dirkx shared results of four years of scientific validation at the Tilburg University, which is said to show AlphaBeats being twice as effective in helping people relax as compared to simply listening to music.
AlphaBeats uses the listener’s favourite music and via neurofeedback and implicit learning, the music is amplified into ‘mental meds’. “With AlphaBeats the brain can “hear” what the brain is doing, creating a lever to internally regulate your mind without the need for you to engage consciously. You just sit back and play your favourite Spotify or Apple Music playlist, and your brain is guided intuitively into relaxation. Do this every day for four weeks and you’ll have mastered life’s most essential skill: the ability to relax,” the company says in a media release.
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