A new device speaks the brain’s language to optimize motor skills
What if we could make learning easier? Daniel Chao, the CEO of Halo Neuroscience, thinks we should. His company’s product, the Halo Sportw, looks like an unassuming pair of over-the-ear headphones, but electrodes lining the band send electric pulses into the motor cortex to supercharge your brain’s plasticity and — in theory — help you learn movements faster. Professional athletes are already using the Halo to up their game, and the more ubiquitous neurostimulation technology becomes, the more society will have to grapple with its impact.
On the first episode of Should This Exist?, host Caterina Fake, and two guest experts, Quartz’s editor in chief Kevin Delaney and comedian Baratunde Thurston, help Chao answer these questions: Should we strive for a utopian world in which everyone is learning and flourishing? Or is the risk of entering a dystopian universe of disparate performance capabilities and expanding inequality too great?
Listen to the first episode and subscribe to the series. Be sure to let us know if you think Daniel Chao’s Halo Sport headset should exist by using #ShouldThisExist on Twitter or by signing up for the Quartz Obsession email.
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