Neurowear is a

gadget A gadget is a machine, mechanical device or any ingenious article. Gadgets are sometimes referred to as ''wikt:gizmo, gizmos''. History The etymology of the word is disputed. The word first appears as reference to an 18th-century tool in Glass ...

project organization in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

founded on the concept of the "Augmented Human Body". The group's first project, known as Necomimi (from ) is a

headband A headband or hairband is a clothing accessory worn in the hair or around the forehead, usually to hold hair away from the face or eyes. Headbands generally consist of a loop of elastic material or a horseshoe-shaped piece of flexible plast ...

with a brain wave sensor and motorized cat shaped ears programmed to turn up or down based on the wearer's

electroencephalogram Electroencephalography (EEG) is a method to record an electrogram of the spontaneous electrical activity of the brain. The bio signals detected by EEG have been shown to represent the postsynaptic potentials of pyramidal neurons in the neoc ...

(electrical potentials recorded at the scalp) influenced by "thoughts and emotions". neurowear collaborated with Qosmo and

Daito Manabe (born 1976) is a Japanese media artist, programmer, engineer, and DJ who creates artwork and interactive installations that utilize contemporary technologies such as virtual reality as well as prominent use of light and sound. He founded Rhiz ...

on "unboxxx" exhibition in July 2012 at Gallery KATA Ebisu.

Necomimi

Boy with cat ears OsamuIwasaki 7301137448

Necomimi is a

with a MindWave brain wave sensor manufactured by

NeuroSky NeuroSky, Inc. is a manufacturer of brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies for consumer product applications, which was founded in 2004 in Silicon Valley, California. The company adapts electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG ...

and motorized cat shaped ears programmed to turn up when the wearer concentrates and to turn down when they relax. It runs for 4 hours on 4

AAA batteries The AAA battery (or triple-A battery) is a standard size of dry cell battery. One or more AAA batteries are commonly used in low-drain portable electronic devices. A zinc–carbon battery in this size is designated by IEC as R03, by ANSI C1 ...

and has interchangeable Cat, Dog, and Devil Horn ears. In November 2011,

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

selected necomimi as one of the 50 best inventions of the year.“necomimi” selected “TIME MAGAZINE / The 50 best invention of the year”
/ref> Necomimi received an Honorary Mention in the

Interactive Art Interactive art is a form of art that involves the spectator in a way that allows the art to achieve its purpose. Some interactive art installations achieve this by letting the observer walk through, over or around them; others ask the artist ...

category of 2013

Prix Ars Electronica The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the best known and longest running yearly prizes in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music. It has been awarded since 1987 by Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria ...

. NeuroSky rejected neurowear's partnership proposal, but neurowear went ahead with the May 2011 announcement that necomimi would be released internationally by the end of 2011 "at a price of several hundred dollars." The viral popularity of the simulated promotional video brought NeuroSky back to the table. Necomimi was demoed at

Gadget Show ''Shop Smart, Save Money'' is a British television show on Channel 5. With a number of the same presenting team and format on the same channel, it is the spiritual successor to ''The Gadget Show ''The Gadget Show'' is a British television ...

Live in April 2012. necomimi was launched in Japan at the Nico Nico Cho-Kaigi at

Makuhari Messe is a convention center in Chiba (city), Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, located just outside of Tokyo. Designed by Fumihiko Maki, it is accessible by Transportation in Greater Tokyo#Railway and subway, Tokyo's commuter rail system. ''Makuha ...

Chiba City is the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It sits about east of the centre of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay. The city became a government-designated city in 1992. In March 2025, its population was 983,045, with a population density of 3,617 people ...

on April 28, 2012.

Ayaka Komatsu Ayaka Komatsu ( ''Komatsu Ayaka''; born 23 July 1986) is a Japanese model, gravure idol and actress. She was born in Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture. Biography Modeling career Her previous modeling agency A modeling agency is a company that ...

modeled the ears on April 29, 2012. The US price is $99.95. necomimi was sold at

Japan Expo Japan Expo is a convention on Japanese popular culture – the largest of its kind outside Japan – taking place in Paris, France, although it has branched out into a partnership festival – Comic-Con Paris, Kultima – and expanded to inclu ...

in July 2012 for €150. While there are few official ear options available, individual crafters create a variety of ear covers, including bear, fox, wolf, bunny ears, and commissioned pieces with a variety of colors. Many of these are sold at conventions, through

Etsy Etsy, Inc. is an American e-commerce company with an emphasis on the selling of handmade or vintage items and craft supplies. These items fall under a wide range of categories, including jewelry, bags, clothing, home decor, religious items, furni ...

, and other online websites.

Limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition or expanded edition are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as b ...

necomimi were created to promote '' The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki''. The ears' color matches the titular wolf children. Another limited edition was created by Nobuki Hizume and modeled by Nagisa.

Anderson Cooper Anderson Hays Cooper (born June 3, 1967) is an American broadcast journalist and political commentator who anchors the CNN news broadcast show ''Anderson Cooper 360°''. In addition to his duties at CNN, Cooper serves as a correspondent for ''6 ...

has a

Yoda Yoda () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with the Force. He first appeared in the 1980 film '' The Empire Strikes Back'', in which he is voiced and puppeteered by F ...

pair. A

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

fan replaced the ears with cheese wedges. Necomimi premiered in the U.S. at

FanimeCon FanimeCon is an annual four-day anime convention held during May at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California, over Memorial Day weekend. Programming The convention typically offers an AMV contest, artist's alley, contes ...

in May 2012, and launched in the U.S. at

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

in July 2012. Christina Bonnington reviewed the headband for ''

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

''. Andrew Tarantola reviewed it for

Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' () is a design, technology, science, and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the sub-blogs ''io9'' and ''Earther'', which focus on pop ...

. Betsy Isaacson reviewed it for ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

''.

Brain Disco

Brain Disco is a collaboration between neurowear and Qosmo that measures audience "attention." The DJ must hold the audience's "attention" or get ejected. The first Brain Disco experiment was held in July 2012 at Gallery KATA Ebisu.

Shippo

Neurowear demonstrated their new prototype Shippo ("

tail The tail is the elongated section at the rear end of a bilaterian animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage extending backwards from the midline of the torso. In vertebrate animals that evolution, evolved to los ...

") at the

Tokyo Game Show , commonly known as TGS, is a video game trade fair and convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publication ...

in September 2012. Shippo was developed with Kiluck Inc. Kiluck failed to fund a similar tail "Tailly" on

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

but is trying again on

Indiegogo Indiegogo is an American crowdfunding website founded in 2008 by Danae Ringelmann, Slava Rubin, and Eric Schell. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. The site is one of the first sites to offer crowd funding. Indiegogo allows peo ...

. The tail wags like a dog based on the user's mood communicated from the headset wirelessly via

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...

. neurowear also showed an

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

app that uploads the user's mood to

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

complete with

geotagging Geotagging, or GeoTagging, is the process of adding geographical identification metadata to various media such as a geotagged photograph or video, websites, SMS messages, QR Codes or RgSSfeeds and is a form of geospatial metadata. This data ...

Neuro Turntable

Neurowear presented Neuro

Turntable A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding phys ...

at ROKURO Music×Interactive×Party Volume.2 at

SuperDeluxe Super Deluxe was an entertainment company owned by Turner Broadcasting. Founded by Wolfgang Hammer in 2007, the company's main output was in online video, television series, and documentaries. History Turner Broadcasting System announced the l ...

Roppongi Roppongi (, , 'six trees') is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popu ...

on December 1, 2012. Neuro Turntable is a device that reads brainwaves and plays music only when the wearer is focused on the music. The music stops as soon as the wearer stops concentrating on it, but it starts again as soon as they gain attention.

Mico

Neurowear introduced mico "music inspiration from your subconsciousness" at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

Trade Show in March 2013. They are

headphones Headphones are a pair of small loudspeaker drivers worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They are electroacoustic transducers, which convert an electrical signal to a corresponding sound. Headphones let a single user listen to an ...

that pick music based on brain waves.

References

* * * * * *{{Citation , last=Lynch , first=Shana , date=8 July 2011 , title=Neurosky is all ears about mood detectors , work=Silicon Valley BizBlog, url= https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/blog/2011/07/san-joses-neurosky-neurowear-team.html , access-date=24 August 2011

External links

Company websiteYouTube ChannelFacebook PageNecomimi official website
Technology companies of Japan