Brain-sensing specialist Interaxon is back with a long-awaited update to its Muse headbands, launching the Muse S Athena.
The $475 Athena follows the Muse S (2022) and Muse 2 (which we tested in 2019). Rather than the latter product, which was made to help the wearer relax and find calm, this new release has more depth; it provides real-time feedback on brain performance via the Muse app.
The aim is to sharpen focus, fortify mental resilience, and enhance sleep recovery. The live cognitive performance tracking relies on combining EEG (electroencephalography) and fNIRS (functional near-infrared spectroscopy) sensors. It also measures blood oxygenation levels to offer a deeper insight into mental effort and recovery.
The ‘mental strength training’ is the area we’re most interested in at first glance, as it’s become quite a trendy area for smart glasses, headbands, and headphones makers (like the MW75-Neuro EEG) over the last year. Plus, the efficacy is still pretty unknown—at least compared to one of Athena’s other core pillars, meditation-like focus exercises.
The sleep-tracking features round out the package. Yet, after testing and wearing a few headbands to sleep in our time, we’re undecided on whether the recovery features will prove as helpful as the others. The insights generally reap more accurate sleep stage analysis than a traditional wearable, but the discomfort element is hard to get past in the long term.
Still, we’re looking forward to trying this one over the next few weeks and months. Stay tuned for our full verdict soon—or, if you’re confident the Muse S Athena can take your cognitive performance to the next level, you can get your hands on one now from the brand’s online store.
