Could Caffeine, Sleeping Pills and Cocktails Go Digital?
How one device is offering a chemical-free path to a happier and better you
“Of course, chemicals are awesome. Caffeine, alcohol, all kinds of things are great…when they’re used exactly as they’re meant to be used. [But] if you use them long term, there’s usually a big price to pay,” says Isy Goldwasser, CEO and Founder of Thync.
Thync is a wearable device that helps you manage your energy, stress and sleep naturally. It uses neuro-signaling to activate specific nerves in your head and your brain to shift you to a state of calm or give you a boost of energy within minutes. Sure, the idea of a device that zaps your brain to change your mood may sound ludicrous, but the market has accepted its existence and use, primarily because Thync transports you to a more meditative space without needing to implement chemicals.
“We just felt there must be a chemical-free way, a digital way, using neuroscience to do the same things over time and to do more. Eventually, the whole idea is that one day you get to just say, ‘I want to turn something on I’ve got and I want to do it now, so I’m going to use technology to unlock that piece…whether it’s my drive, or my calm, or my creativity, my focus. I just want that on right now for the next hour.”
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to tap into parts of your personality at will? Goldwasser says,
“That’s where we’re all headed. We’re headed to a world where you can literally push a button and turn something that you have already on. That’s the vision. We’re finding that this idea of a chemical-free path to performing is the key theme. The first-gen product is what we have now. It’s all about the mode of energy or calm to either accomplish more or to gain balance and reset after work, reset at night before you go to bed.”
Though plenty of people are lining up for this product, it namely tends to draw a particular type:
“They do need to be that personality that says, ‘I’m looking to go beyond chemicals to perform, and I want to try something that’s fully different.’ People then realize, ‘Yeah, I want that future to be real. Let me try this product, and let’s see if we can get this frontier.’ That’s the target.”
More and more we will see consumers turning to the digital world to optimize their lives. Though, given tens of thousands of years of human history, it remains unlikely that people will abandon the use of chemicals altogether so as to feel good.
Originally published at www.psfk.com on February 23, 2016.