Brainwave Fitness Headband

Product Description

Muse is your personal meditation assistant. While you meditate, Muse measures whether your mind is calm or active, and translates that data into weather sounds. When you’re calm, you’ll hear peaceful weather sounds. When your mind wanders, the weather will intensify, guiding you back to a calm state. After each session, review your data, set goals, and build a deeply rewarding meditation practice that gets better every time.

Muse is compatible with a wide range of Apple and Android devices. Muse requires Bluetooth LE 4.0 or higher.

Apple - Muse works best with Apple devices using iOS 10 and above.

Android - Muse works best with Android devices which use Android operating system 5.0 or higher.

Features

• MEDITATION MADE EASY: Muse is your personal meditation assistant by providing EEG based real-time neuro feedback, allowing you to take the guesswork out of your meditation practice
• MUSE WILL GUIDE YOU TO A CALM MIND: Sometimes your mind is calm and sometimes it's active - Muse will teach you to recognize a calm mind and help you get there
• IMMERSE YOURSELF: Put on the Muse headband, plug in your earbuds or headphones, start the app, and close your eyes. Immerse yourself within the sounds of a beach or rainforest via the Muse App on iOS or Android
• REAL-TIME TRACKING & FEEDBACK: While you meditate, Muse measures whether your mind is calm or active, and translates that data into weathers sounds
• REVIEW DATA AFTER EACH SESSION: After each session, review your data, set goals, and build a deeply rewarding meditation practice that gets better every time
• TRAVEL SAFE: Muse fits perfectly in the Official Muse: The Brain Sensing Headband Case (both versions)
• COMPATIBILITY: Bluetooth 4.0 wireless connection works with Apple and Android devices; using Apple iOS 11.0 or Android 5 Operating Systems or higher
• USER INFO & GUIDES: Kindly refer to the User Manual, FAQs, and Tech Specs for additional information and product details
• INCLUDED IN BOX: Muse: Brain Sensing Headband, Quick Start Guide, USB Recharge Cable (Ear buds NOT Included)
• LIMITED 1 YEAR WARRANTY: Manufacturer warranty valid only if product is Shipped & Sold by Amazon – no other retailer is authorized by manufacturer to sell through Amazon

Top Reviews

Reliable, comfortable wireless (Bluetooth) 4 sensor EEG you can output raw data from live or record.
by You (5 out of 5 stars)
May 4, 2018

I purchased this on Black Friday for $179 with case. I am a long time mediator (3-4 years), but I wanted to improve my meditations. Sometimes I just don't know how well I'm doing. I wanted something that would show where I was at scientifically: beta, alpha, theta, etc. I have used this every day since December 2017.

So for the first 4 months (almost 50 hours of meditation time) I "trained" with the free included App. You put in the headphones in your cell phone (turn it on airplane mode so you won't receive notifications), and you pair the device with bluetooth. Open the app, and set it up. How it works is you have 5 ambient noises to choose from. My fav was Rainforest. It's raining and windy, but if you quiet your mind, the wind settles down. Quiet it more and the rain stops. Quiet it more and it gets quiet. Quiet it more and you hear bird chirping. If you notice the birds chirping and think about it, the rain comes back, if you still keep thinking about it, the wind comes back, etc. And now you have to quiet your mind again. I just absolutely loved it because it gives instant feedback. You know how quickly your mind starts to wander. So that was useful, but after using it there seemed like there was something really wrong with the app. (Not the device, I don't want to turn this review into a review of 1 application) Now you might be thinking, bird chirping is deep Alpha, quiet is alpha, storm raging is beta, but no. As of the writing of this text, (May 2018) how to app operates is it goes through a calibration where it sets a baseline for the whole session. So if your mind in baseline is active, when you quiet down for meditation, you get lots of bird "points". If your mind is quiet during calibration, you will have a stormy session, no matter how quiet your mind really becomes. This is the foundational app so I think it's worth talking about it's limitations. You will soon graduate off this app. I'm not saying it wasn't REALLY useful, it's just there is no scientific way you can ever have the same brain state in calibration, so it's limited and hyper prone to bad data for most people.

Presently, I now use an app called "MuseMonitor" ($10 from the google app store). Now we're getting into the science. I can record my brain waves (all the data from the MUSE device) and map them proper in excel or their website will map it as well.

Note: Nobody tells you this but eye movement is incorrectly labeled as delta.

Before this device I used to have the NeruoSky, but that was dastardly uncomfortable and you couldn't wear it lying down. It only had 1 sensor too. The MUSE is totally comfortable, no wires (BT) and strap adjustable. You can't underestimate the value of comfort and ease. You won't use it unless it's easy and comfortable!

I've also looked at Open BCI. But I wouldn't be able to wear that lying down and it's must more complex and messy. Maybe one day. The developer side of the MUSE is also well established, so if you want to use the device for user uses, I think you'll find a good home here.

So yeah, all in all, I do love this device. Still use it every day. I've never had any connection issues, or pairing problems. I wish there were more guides on how to interpret the raw data. As of the writing of this review, there isn't ANY simple guides and guidelines on how to interpret the data. They just refer you to books on EEG. Not helpful. I'm really interested in this stuff so I'm going to try to make one myself.
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Could not tell the difference between deep calm breathing and eyes wide open doing puzzle/math
by Maureen Evenson (1 out of 5 stars)
July 12, 2018

Extremely disappointed. I really wanted to believe in this product. I have been doing meditation for 2 years at least 5 times a week. The product is very nice, the app great, easy to use.

But it just does not work. I did several test (at least 10 times) of calm meditation, and during meditation opening my eyes and start to do math or puzzle. The app would see NO DIFFERENCE and even tell me I was at my calmest !!! What a joke. I contact the customer service with no luck, they were really nice but could no find any good explanation. Also I bought two different bands but it was doing the same.

I really wanted to love it, I was so excited to finally have a device that could give feedback, but (at least for me) it just does not work...
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WARNING: Software required to use the device crashes, no longer supported.
by Josh M (1 out of 5 stars)
May 8, 2018

WARNING: The iOS app that is required to use this device crashes constantly and is no longer supported by the company. Despite the impression you will get from the large number of reviews, and the company website, this product is effectively discontinued. I attempted to use the app on several devices running different versions of iOS and had the crashing experience on all of them. I contacted support, and attempted to work through the issue. They blamed the latest iOS update which was released a month ago. However, that does not change the situation. The software required to use this does not and will not work on iPhone or iPad at this time.
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I wish this headband worked as advertised, but sadly it does not
by Mark Twain (1 out of 5 stars)
July 23, 2018

Summary

The process of learning requires feedback. A headband that provides immediate feedback on the quality of your meditation practice would help you rapidly improve your meditation skills. I truly wished that Muse offered such a headband. It is easy to trick yourself into believing that the headband works, but a little experimentation will make you realize it does not work as advertised. If you believe it works, try some of the experiments discussed below.

Details (long).

I had been meditating for a year prior to buying this headband, so I still had room for improvement but could definitely recognize good disciplined meditation. The headband provides feedback in the form of sounds that supposedly grow louder when your mind is active, quieter when you mind is calm, and the sounds of birds when your mind has been calm for an extended period. During my first month using the headband, I thought the feedback seemed uncorrelated with the quality of my attention and calmness of my mind. I suspected that the headband provides little more than random feedback. Just as we can see faces and animals in clouds when none truly exist, you can trick yourself into thinking the headband works. When I knew my mediation was poor and unfocused, I sometimes received a lot of "birds" and my ego wanted to take credit and pat myself on the back. When I had excellent focus yet received negative feedback I searched for how to blame myself.

Frustrated with the seeming lack of correlation between the quality of my mediation sessions and the feedback from the headset, I did a series of experiments. I started a session and then removed the earbuds and watched Netflix, or read a book, or listened to music, or actually mediated. None of these other activities should ring up as a calm mind anything close to mediation. The results were apparently random, with mediation no better on average than any activity. The only consistency I noticed was that mediation with focus on the center of the forehead produced better results than my usual focus on the breath at the tip of the nose. Further investigation indicated that during focus on the forehead I was subtly contracting forehead muscles and this was affecting the headset. One day I had to instill an eyedrop near the start of a long session. I leaned by head back, and for some reason opened my mouth, and heard a string of birds. That surprised me so I returned my head to a forward position, closed my mouth, and the birds stopped. I could make the birds sing again nonstop each time I tilted my head back a little and opened my mouth. Clearly this has nothing to do with the quality of mediation. I will upload a screenshot of a particularly bizarre thirty minute session. Five minutes into the session, the feedback noise went near silent and a series of birds started chirping non-stop. I had not moved or done anything to trigger the change, but knew that if I did move at all the birds would stop. For ten minutes I held perfectly still as over 100 birds sang and I mentally planned out this review. But then my nose itched terribly and when I scratched it the birds grew silent. While the active-to-calm feedback varies throughout any session, the overall average quality of a session appears to depend on the physical placement of the headband and physical orientation of your head, not on the quality of mediation.

After six months I still use the headset sometimes simply for the timer function. Beginning mediators might also find some value in the few choices of guided mediations. Of course, you can find timers and excellent guided mediations for free.
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review from a user with over 400 sessions and 7000 minutes using it
by Steve4404 (3 out of 5 stars)
December 28, 2018

I have waited a long time before submitting a review because I really wanted to give it a chance to grow on me. The 3 stars are because it has gotten me to meditate every day for over a year and now I feel that mediation is part of my life and it helps in everyday life (my experience, yours may vary). My problem with Muse is how it differentiates calm state of mind from active, the main reason for wearing it. I continually vary from sessions with 10% calm up to sessions with over 90% calm. There is no rhyme or reason to this. I kept thinking I would get better over time (after all, it is as simple as focusing only on breath).

After reading other user experience and spending some time on Muse's own forum, it seems that each session depends entirely on the one minute "calibration" session before the mediation session. Despite the complaints of many users that is not a good way to calibrate the session, nobody from Muse ever addresses this.

I have gotten so tired of hearing the storm sounds (not calm) during my sessions that I now spend the calibration period multiplying 2 digit numbers in my head. This is a "hack" that I read on a muse forum from a fellow disgruntled user. This has worked so now my sessions are all over 80% calm. However it would be great if I could get an "honest" reading. Muse is not there yet.

Against my better judgement I recently purchased a Muse 2. This product is so bad that Amazon wont accept any more reviews. The selling point of Muse 2 is that you get more feedback, ie, breathing, motion, heart rate, etc. This sounded great so I went for it. However, if you select a "heart" meditation , the ONLY feedback you get is heart rate. If you select a "breath" meditation, you ONLY get respiration rate. If they can collect all this data, why not provide all metrics in one session?? It seems like a waste to me, dont do it. They have a long way to go.
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Quality EEG for a reasonable price
by G. Stahl (4 out of 5 stars)
December 28, 2014

I'm writing this review after having completed 50 sessions with the product. First I'll say that overall I am very pleased with it. I have minor critiques, but they are just that - minor. Since the product includes hardware and software, I'll review both.

The hardware:

The headset has a difficult task in reading brainwaves but it does it quite well for the price. Patience is required to ensure a proper connection with all the sensors. Many people will not have that patience. Ironically, those without patience are the ones who could benefit from Muse the most. With that said, proper use should be within the capability of most people. Although the built in batteries last a reasonable amount of time between recharges, I find that accuracy suffers as they lose their charge. This is no surprise, but the charge indicator function seems to give a slightly optimistic appraisal. Plan on recharging at 50% or earlier if you want accurate feedback. For anyone thinking this is too much money for a neurofeedback device, keep in mind that professional devices are well over $1000. Bluetooth connection is simple to setup and seems to work fine. The worst issue with the hardware is that you may have to put a fair amount of time into each session to ensure you get good contact. If that bothers you, then neurofeedback probably isn't for you.

The software (the app):

The app is very well thought out. I particularly liked that it "unlocked" new features after you accumulated a certain amount of success. Ample settings are provided to suit your needs. My favorite features are the tracking of data. These are all time and date stamped and kept online associated to your account. This is accessed on the app itself. I would love it if the data could be exported or at least be reviewed on a computer. Maybe they will add that in the future. My next favorite feature is the bird feedback. After a certain amount of time spent in the "calm" mental state, you are rewarded with the sound of birds chirping. Personally I find this more helpful in terms of feedback than the wave sounds. This opinion may change if I can improve my meditation skills from their current state. The app has had a couple of minor bugs, but they are not deal breakers. It allows you to set weekly goals. After setting a weekly goal, the setting stayed on the default value when it was supposed to have changed at the beginning of the week. The next week, it changed to the value I set - a minor annoyance. Another bug which remains currently is that the audio sometimes drops out for a couple of seconds right at the end of a session. Again, not a deal breaker - just a minor flaw. When the app was updated I was optimistic that bug would be fixed, but it was not. If it never gets fixed, it won't affect my usage. Overall I rate the app highly for what Muse says it will do.

Overall opinion:

The Muse headband and Calm app do what they claim very well. I only rate this 4 instead of 5 because I would love to have the option for more advanced feedback. I've been interested in meditation and neurofeedback for almost 30 years. I've done a lot of research into professional EEG equipment for meditation usage and the price has always been prohibitive. Muse has been the first company I've seen to offer a quality product for a price I can justify. Ideally though, the app would offer feedback and/or data regarding the specific brainwave patterns it reads (Alpha, Beta, Theta etc...). Also, a computer interface would be the icing on the cake - as more expensive EEG units offer.
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Use wires and a colander on your head, you'll save $300. It's too expensive for not reliably reporti
by lovinlife (1 out of 5 stars)
September 11, 2015

Pros: I was meditating more regularly because I had it. Muse customer service is really good.

Cons: Many. I see it as a fraudulent device. It continues to improve your score even if you are active thinking or calm thinking.
1) It reports me as "more calm" when I do challenging brain puzzles while using it.
2) It doesn't differentiate between Theta-Delta waves and Alpha. The only benefit to strengthening your frontal cortex is if you are in Alpha state (focused meditation). One time that I was falling asleep and fell asleep (Theta-Delta) I racked up over 100 "calm birds".
3) I also received a lot of calm birds when I was distracted thinking.
4) It doesn't allow you to delete skewed data sessions if you fell asleep.
5) It's way expensive for not reliably reporting a meditative state.
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Good device for life's best -- most difficult -- practice
by Philip Reed (5 out of 5 stars)
January 6, 2017

If someone asked me what single thing would improve most people's lives I would say it is meditation. Then why isn't meditation used more widely? Sure, there is a lot of current talk about the benefits of "mindfullness" -- a word that strikes me as bland and trendy. Still, meditation remains unused by most people for three reasons:

Many people incorrectly perceive it as a form of prayer and treat it as a religious practice.

Its effects, while ultimately powerful, are subtle.

Meditation requires discipline, patience and constancy.

This is why I bought and recommend the Muse. But before you take my word for it, here's a brief summary of my history with meditation.

I have been meditating off and on since I first read several books on the subject while in my 30s. For one six month period, I would meditate 20 minutes every night, sitting on a cushion in the attic of our house. I once had a significant spiritual experience while meditating which I'll describe later.

Since then, I've meditated sporadically using different techniques and devices. I've used smartphone apps and recorded guided meditations. For some time I used a Stress Eraser which measured my heartbeat and coordinated my breathing with my heartrate -- a form of meditation bordering on biofeedback. It was very effective for calming me and I noticed it really helped my golf game.

Since last March I've been using the Muse Meditation headband which I'll describe in more detail later.

What are the benefits of meditation?

Studies point to many benefits from regular meditation including reduced stress, lowered blood pressure, increased focus and energy and improved performance in many areas. For me, one benefit arises above all else.

Throughout my life I've had a tendency to react quickly and emotionally to things people say. In some cases, a slight or accusation can tip my mood toward negativity for hours or even a day. While in this state I know I need to forgive and move on, but emotionally I'm incapable of doing so.

However, if I've meditated, my reactivity is dampened and I'm able to let these comments roll off. I first noticed this about 10 years ago when I was managing a difficult woman who worked in my department. She phrased even little remarks in a way that constantly put people on the defensive. The temptation was just to snap back, confront her, or begin an exchange which felt satisfying in the short run but would be counter-productive.

At that time I used to go into the men's room, sit in a stall and use a device no longer sold called the Stress Eraser for about 10 minutes. The little device, which took my pulse from my index finger, would give me points for good breaths to sync my breathing with my heart rate until it produced a measurable neurological change.

If I used the stresseraser, and this woman made one of her little remarks, I could feel the irritation rising, but it was at a distance. Her remarks became almost amusing as if I could notice them but was insulated from being drawn into the emotional quicksand.

How I found the Muse headband

Last summer I had a brain scan taken by wearing a helmet with electric sensors. The result was a map of my brain showing what areas were generating higher or lower signals than a database of 5,000 "normal" people. This was physical evidence of the way my brain was dealing with everyday life. It was a bit like seeing the change as I used the stresseraser. During my neurofeedback program I was able to improve my sleep and raise my performance in certain areas such as the speed of processing information, memory and verbal fluency. My golf and tennis games improved.

I became interested in seeing what my brain was actually doing based on science rather than just asking myself what my current mood was. I wondered if I could find a brain sensor I could use myself.

How the Muse system works

On the internet I found the Muse headband which read brainwaves, converts them to the sound of weather, and helps you meditate. I bought it and began using it.

The headband fits across the front of your forehead and wraps around your ears. A metal strip is able to detect electrical brainwaves. When certain brainwaves are very active the weather noise increases. As you calm your mind, the weather noise grows fainter and -- here is the genius of the device -- if you are very calm for several seconds, you can hear birds chirping. At the end you get a graph of your performance and a score.

Many people would react by saying, "Why do you need to turn meditation into a video game?" Here are several ways the Muse helps me:

Quantification builds belief. If I finish a session and have a good score, it reinforces the benefits of the session. Yes, there could be a placebo effect but if it helps, I'll take it.

The headband keeps me still. When I'm wearing the headband I know it's a meditation session. When I take if off, I'm done. The headband formalizes and ritualizes meditation.

Teaches you to identify a calm mind. Finally, and maybe more importantly, the weather sounds let you identify a calm mind.

How I use Muse
If I sit down and set a meditation timer for 20 minutes, it feels like I'm facing an eternity. Instead, I use Muse for two 7-minute sessions first thing in the morning. This allows the device to re-calibrate to my state of mind. I meditate for 7 minutes then start another 7 minute session. In some cases, I do a third session.

My spiritual experience

Once, while meditating, I had the feeling there was another person or entity in the room with me. I continued meditating, hoping to learn who this was. Finally, I realized the entity was actually me -- as if I had split in two -- but this other me was wise and calm. I continued meditating, wondering what this other me had come to say. After some time, I came to know this answer. This other self wanted me to know one thing: "Everything is going to be all right."

Final thoughts

I hope my experiences will provide some guidance for anyone looking for a way to get more out of life. I also want to encourage people to find their own method of getting to the calm inner source of intelligence within themselves. As someone once said, our mind is like a lake. On the surface, from day to day, there is turbulence. But below the water is deep and still. This is where we can find insight into our true selves.
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Why I wanted to love the Muse, but eventually returned it
by Jay-Cee (1 out of 5 stars)
September 9, 2018

I have been meditating for a number of years. I am also a fan of new technology and gadgets.

This device therefore seemed like a great idea. I used it extensively for 3 weeks and decided to return it for the following reasons:
1. The device is unable to tell you if your mind is wandering. It can merely tell you if you are feeling calm or stressed. This is something that you actually can tell yourself, as you know the feeling of stress and calm in your body.
The whole point of the device is to be able to let you know if your mind is wandering and it cannot do this: I can consistently achieve "bird sounds" with a wandering mind if I am calm.

I had other people try this and their experience was similar.
2. The concept of the device is actually flawed: I discussed this device with my meditation master. He explained that the point of meditation is for the mind to become self aware of its wandering nature: You're training your own mind to see when it drifts and bring it back to whatever focus point you set for your meditation. By having a device do this for you, you are defeating the whole concept.

In addition, meditation is not just about the practice of meditation, it's about living your life in this way i.e. being present and not distracted. In real life, you won't have the muse sitting on your head all day long and reminding you when you have drifted! You can only learn this by meditating (without a device) and training your mind (yourself) to become aware.
3. The developer seems to have misunderstood the principles of meditation. The device/software gives you information about your meditation in the form of scores. You are told how long you have spent in each state (active/calm etc.) and you are rewarded accordingly. This is in contradiction to the very nature of meditation. You are not supposed to evaluate your meditation or judge it in any way. You are meant to experience it and move on with the rest of your day. A meditation is neither good or bad and sometimes it can be a peaceful experience and sometimes it can be very restless and challenging. This device leads you to judge and evaluate your meditation. It also leads you to try improve it by achieving better scores and sharing these with other people or comparing it to your own previous scores. Comparisons, achievements and scores are discouraged in the practice of meditation.

All in all, I cannot recommend this device.

It does not work as advertised and even if it were capable of doing what is says, it goes against the very concept of meditation by contradicting the core principles.

In addition, I find that the advertising and marketing is misleading. This advertising is aimed at all the benefits of meditation. This is absolutely correct, there are a myriad of benefits of meditation, but this device has little to do with that.
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Decent Product blemished by misleading business and/or invasion of privacy
by rbianco3 (3 out of 5 stars)
October 20, 2018

The unit does what advertised for the most part- it doesn't feel as sensitive as my Healing Rhythms program and hardware which I purchased nearly ten years ago- so feels like a step backward in that respect. It does catch when your mind wanders but doesn't seem to get as detailed in differentiating between not wandering and zen state like Healing Rhythms could. Product feels well made and does work. If I could have given 2.5 stars would have but two feels low since most people aren't as private as me and would be misleading. Three feels too high but is more "true" to people reading reviews (in my opinion)

The Warts:

You are must install the program to your smart phone- I don't like that (feels like spying)- strike one

You must allow the program to access your location & make a cloud account (is spying) - strike two

Your brain data IS stored on the cloud though the company claims it's anonymous. Hmm forgive me for not trusting corporations - strike three

It could have been a four star review based on the hardware/software itself.

Felt very mislead and used because they are spying on me and using my information. As developer I hoped to use the device for some of my own things but found I cannot even download the SDK unless I join their developer program. Essentially they want people to spy on- like these genetic programs, search engines, web sites, spooks, govt., insurance companies, and evil people we cannot imagine. Mixed feelings on this purchase- if seller offered to take it back-shipping & all - I would take back my mediocre review- it's a pain enough to have to return something.

I rarely write three star reviews or lower- not my style to say something negative unless I'm really ticked.

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