I am sometimes asked why I founded a company that creates mobile EEG devices. There were several reasons, but here is the most important.
Identifying a problem in tech
Mentalab was the result of a simple observation. Although there have been massive advances in consumer electronics, professional EEG equipment has not kept up.
Hospital and research equipment is made to be robust, complex and specialist. It is not meant to provide an appealing and intuitive user interface.
Meanwhile, consumer electronics are benefiting from a technological revolution in design and function. The consumer market is becoming more mobile, fast and small.
The gap between research equipment and consumer products is the niche Mentalab fills. I founded Mentalab to bring better bio-signal technology to professional research labs and clinics.
Creating a mobile EEG device
In order to create an advanced and mobile EEG device, I assembled a team of engineering and technology specialists from the Technical University of Munich.
By late 2016, the first evaluations of our hardware were complete and looking promising. We held talks with partner labs, advisors and scientists, and confirmed that high-end mobile EEG technology was ripe for development.
The path forward took shape; we were making state-of-the art ExG technology in a mobile, wireless format.
Name of our new ExG device
The name Mentalab originated from Menta – Latin for mind, and Lab – a nod to our scientific scope.
This name represents the essence of our company. We are trying to improve our understanding of the human body and mind in the hope that we can improve lives and broaden humanity’s understanding of itself.
The company logo reflects this spirit. It is a network of neural connections through the lens of a microscope.
We named our first product Mentalab Explore. The device can measure large amounts of brain activity, but still offers complete experimental freedom. With it, users get everything they need to explore new scientific frontiers.
Launching Mentalab Explore
After countless iterations and many prototypes, Mentalab Explore was feature complete in 2019.
The long development process was worth it. Explore is an extremely high-performing and reliable EEG device that is mobile and wireless.
In early 2020, the design was finished and we were able to file for certifications and set-up production. Mentalab Explore officially launched in June 2020. Today, our first customers still love the product.
Mentalab Explore delivers highly precise ExG data, but is fun to use. Above all, our EEG device is completely different from conventional EEG equipment.
Software integrations
The goal of Mentalab is to generate value for the researchers that use our devices.
As such, we develop software that runs alongside our EEG device, giving users maximum flexibility. Hiding our data format behind a paywall or selling our software separately just didn’t make sense.
So all our software is open for you to use as you wish.
We decided on a solution that gives users full flexibility: explorepy, an open-source Python suite. With it, users get full access to all their raw data online and offline in various universal data formats.
What is more, the software comes with a host of additional features – a true sandbox for any technologist! Our software is free to use and 100% open, so anyone can modify and improve it.
On top of all this, we recognise the power of existing professional solutions. Therefore, we continue to grow our portfolio of APIs. We develop all our APIs in-house, or in collaboration with our trusted partners.
