Brain sensing eyewear to enhance mental focus for performance and well-being looks set to become a reality following the formation of a partnership between Safilo and Canadian technology firm Interaxon.
The research and development partnership and licensing agreement marked Safilo’s entry into the wearable technology sector and has seen the creation of a new division, Safilox.
The Toronto-based Interaxon produces Muse, an electroencephalogram (EEG) headband that measures brain activity during meditation. Using the headband, wearers can get live feedback on their brain activity using an accompanying app, which automatically adjusts the theme of the meditation depending on the brain’s meditative state.
Safilo said Interaxon’s technology had been scientifically validated by more than 100 brain research partnerships around the world, from institutes including the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest, MIT, McMaster University, NASA, and IBM.
The two companies revealed they had been working together for the past 12 months on the project, which will see the discrete integration of the Interaxon technology into spectacle and sunglass frames. Safilox said the first brand to be integrated with the technology would be performance and lifestyle range, Smith.
‘Safilox is the perfect intersection of our renowned iconic eyewear design and authentic quality craftsmanship dating back to 1878, the leading brain sensing technology application, and today's most coveted consumer search to master mental focus and strength to achieve enhanced personal performance and well-being,’ said Luisa Delgado, CEO of Safilo.
‘It is neither another example of technology mounted on frames, nor technology for its own sake.’