American
neurotechnological company Kernel has developed a helmet, equipped with sensors,
that analyses a brain’s electrical impulses to ‘read’ minds. The helmet uses its
equipment to measure blood flow and map the electrical impulses a brain generates
to get insights into how it reacts to different circumstances.

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The technology is nothing new, scientists
have been using it for years, but the devices that were used so far were as big
as an entire room, costing millions of dollars. However, Kernel is set to soon start
shipping its helmets for $50,000, according to a Bloomberg report.

The helmet has already created quite the buzz
among eager researchers, who want to use it to study the brain more closely to
learn about things like brain aging, mental illnesses, strokes, meditation, how
psychedelics affect the brain and more.

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The merits of making such rare technology so
much more affordable are boundless. And Bryan Johnson, the chief executive of
Kernel, says the brain is the next frontier for exploration in order for society
to progress.

“To make progress on all the fronts that we
need to as a society, we have to bring the brain online,” he said.

Johnson has spent over five years, raised
over $110 million – half of it his own money – and has been rejected by at least
228 investors for the startup. 

He was nearly bankrupted in order to keep
the firm running, saying “we were two weeks away from missing payroll”. But
by 2030, Johnson wants to bring the price of a helmet down to smartphone
levels, with every American household owning one of these devices.

The first of Kernel helmets will be shipped
to research institutes, and also to companies who want to study how people
think in order to further streamline and capitalise from marketing.

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The helmet uses specialised material to
block electromagnetic interference from outside and study only what is
happening in the brain. It also employs special lasers and computer chips that
can analyse more brain activity than was possible with previous technology.

However, in order to cover all the
different functions that traditional brain-reading machines are capable of, Johnson
and Kernel had to make two separate devices. One of them, called Flow, measures
changes in blood oxygen levels. The other helmet, called Flux, reads electromagnetic
activity of the brain, which is very weak and difficult to observe.

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Apart from the size and price advantage,
these helmets can also record more data than previously possible. Research suggests
the Flow helmet can help analyse brain functions such as attention,
problem-solving, emotions, while the Flux helmet can help better understand brain
performance, learning and the flow of information.

“This unlocks a whole new universe of
research,” said David Boas, a biomechanical engineering professor director of
the Neurophotonics Center at Boston University. “What makes us human is how we
interact with the world around us.”