NextMind’s Brain-Computer Interface Kit Begins Shipping To Developers

“Don a headset which places a sensor on the back of your head, and it’ll detect your brainwaves which can then be translated into digital actions,” writes Engadget. VentureBeat reports that NextMind “has started shipping its real-time brain computer interface Dev Kit for $399.”
The device translates brain signals into digital commands, allowing you to control computers, AR/VR headsets, and IoT devices (lights, TVs, music, games, and so on) with your visual attention. Paris-based NextMind is part of a growing number of startups building neural interfaces that rely on machine learning algorithms. There are invasive devices like the one from Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which in August revealed a prototype showing readings from a pig’s brain using a coin-shaped device implanted under the skull. There are also noninvasive devices like the electromyography wristband that translates neuromuscular signals into machine-interpretable commands from Ctrl-labs, which Facebook acquired in September 2019. NextMind is developing a noninvasive device — an electroencephalogram (EEG) worn on the back of your head, where your brain’s visual cortex is located. When we spoke with NextMind CEO Sid Kouider last year, he promised the kits would begin shipping in Q2 2020. Then the pandemic hit. “We had about three, four months of delays due to COVID-19, but not more than that in terms of production,” Kouider told VentureBeat. The company shipped “hundreds” of Dev Kits in November after producing its first thousand units. Another thousand units are set to be produced next month.