The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project results from its potential to significantly change the way humans interact with intelligent systems. The ability to determine human emotion, level of consciousness, activity levels and facial gesture controls using affordable, wearable technology has the potential to disrupt the technology industry. The proposed technology will empower developers to create software applications that learn about individual user preferences based on the user's biosignals and serve highly relevant content to those users. The potential impact of the technology extends well beyond the proposed music discovery application to include news, videos, books, pictures, targeted advertising, custom hands-free facial gesture controls, activity/fitness tracking, etc. The technology also enables remote (live and pre-recorded) suggestive psychotherapy treatment applications by allowing audio streams to be correlated with human mental/biological states. The number of life-changing applications that can be developed using the proposed technology is limited only by the imaginations of third party developers. The initial implementation of the proposed technology will be in consumer headphones. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes to develop a technology that will power the first-ever Biosignal Headphones. The proposed technology monitors a user's biosignals - such as brainwaves (EEG), muscle signals (EMG) and heart rate (ECG) - and makes determinations regarding user emotions, level of consciousness, facial gestures and activity levels. The interpreted biosignal information can be sent to personal smartphones, computers, media players, etc. where it can be used in applications developed by third party developers. For example, while a user is listening to music powered by a music discovery application, biosignal-equipped headphones will report to the application whether or not the user is enjoying a song, which will feed the discovery process that recommends artists/songs the user is likely to enjoy. In another example, while a user is jogging, the headphones can provide activity tracking metrics and play music that corresponds to endurance levels. The biosignal headphones could also enable applications for at-home remote suggestive psychotherapy to treat conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
