Vagus nerve stimulation is nothing new, although it's more commonly done with a surgical implant that's akin to shoving a pacemaker into your brain. There is one device that's similar to Nervana, NEMOS, which is currently used to treat epilepsy in certain people. Nervana is similar-looking to the other device, looking like a slightly geeky guitar pedal with four buttons and a large wheel in the center. Inside, there's a 9V battery that promises to offer 30 hours of use before needing to be swapped out. While it's entirely possible to undergo this therapy without music, company CEO Ami Brannon says that the addition of tunes makes the process more enjoyable. 
 
 
 
 According to the team, the device harnesses beat-heavy music and sends out the electrical pulses in time with the tune. For the demo, my phone's music library was scanned, with AC/DC's Back in Black considered suitable for the test. I had to connect my music player to Nervana via a 3.5mm male-male cable, and the feed is pushed out via special headphones. The left earphone contains a pair of electrodes that, via an earbud made of conductive silicon, sends the electricity through the corresponding ear canal. 
 
 It took a lot of trial and error to get to the point where the stimulation was working, and having Back in Black screaming at high volume certainly wasn't conducive to a relaxing environment. Then again, when the system began to work, I could certainly feel some sensation, although nothing too discomforting. After about 14 minutes, I did feel a mild sense of elation that lasted until I shut down the device, and for the next five minutes, I was a little spaced out. 
 
 
 
 At last year's CES, I helped test out Thync, a wearable that was designed to calm you down or get you pumped up for a big day. Similar to that device, it's hard to know at first blush if the sensations that I felt were genuine or simply a byproduct of the environment. After all, sitting down and listening to 15 minutes of music, drowning out the din of a loud and busy trade show, could probably make you feel similar levels of relaxation. With all of these things, it's impossible to say if their effective without significant testing under less chaotic conditions. 
 
 If you're looking to try it for yourself, I'm told that the device will be available for sale at some point in the second quarter of the year. It'll retail for $299, and the company has promised me that it's already looking at ways to make finished product significantly more elegant than what's available today. ||||| This decorative activity tracker for women is an accessory that resembles a leaf and can be work on the wrist, collar or neck. In addition to tracking steps and sleep quality, it also tracks menstruation and ovulation and offers guided breathing exercises to reduce stress. The wearable starts at $119. 
 
 Like a Glove smart leggings fit all sizes and include sensors that take measurements -- including waist, thighs, hips and inseam -- at the press of a button. The measurements are then sent to an app that helps select the best jean brands that fit your dimensions. The leggings can be pre-ordered for $40. 
 
 This insole ($200) tracks your daily steps and calories burned and can also keep your feet warm. Called Digitsole, it provides an extra layer of padding to your sneakers to absorb shock and vibrations when you’re moving. 
 
 This wearable motorcycle helmet, with a $1,500 price tag, has a heads-up display, a 180-degree rearview camera and GPS navigation. There’s also a voice-control feature that connects to a phone and can control music. 
 
 A new pair of jeans called #Hellojean, created by Joe’s Jeans, are not only fashionable, but also double as a wearable device, with a dedicated pocked to charge a smartphone (as long as it’s smaller than the iPhone 6). The jeans cost $190 and the battery pack, sold separately, costs $49. The USB cord is hidden in the seams of the jeans so it can “invisibly” connect to the phone. 
 
 Athena, developed by Philadelphia-based startup Roar for Good, is a coin-size personal safety alarm to help prevent sexual assault. The wearable, which can be worn as a necklace or used an accessory that’s clipped to a shirt pocket, belt or purse, sounds off an alarm and notifies contacts of the user’s location if it’s pressed for three seconds or longer. 
 
 With motion-sensing technology and coaching guidance, Moov Now ($79.99), available for both Android and iOS, brings workouts to the next level. The wearable aims to improve almost all forms of exercise with instructions and real-time data, from running to cardio boxing and swimming. 
 
 The second generation Motorola Moto 360 includes a heart-rate monitor, music player and GPS. Starting at $299, this Android watch can also be voice-controlled through the “OK Google” command in Google Search. 
 
 This wearable zaps your brain to change your mood. The white curved Thync connects wirelessly to a smartphone via Bluetooth low-energy. After pairing it with your mobile device, Thync sends low-level pulses of electricity into your head activating pathways in your brain that make you feel calm or energized. 
 
 The health-tracking Fitbit ranges in price from the $60 (for the ZIP) to the $250 (for the Surge). Known as the leader in wearable activity tracking, Fitbit sold 4.7 million devices between July and September this year, according to IDC. Real-time information about activity, exercise, food, sleep and more make this slim device attractive to those trying to improve their overall health. 
 
 Odds are you own a wearable computers. This past year has seen explosive growth for such devices, including fitness trackers, phone watches and motion trackers. Shipments for various devices are poised to reach 76.1 million units by the end of 2015, up 163.6 percent from 2014, according to IT research firm IDC. By 2019, worldwide shipments are expected to reach 173.4 million units. It's safe to say the industry is booming. Here’s a look at some of the most popular and intriguing wearables that hit the market this year. These wearables run the gamut in functionality, from tracking heart rate and activity to zapping your brain to improve your mood and sending off an alarm to help prevent sexual assault. The Apple Watch The Apple Watch, which debuted in April 2015, is a sleek wearable that resembles a mini iPhone for your wrist. It’s available in different models, including Apple Watch Sport and the Apple Watch Edition. It provides advanced health and activity tracking, including wrist-based heart rate monitoring, and can display updates or control music on your smartphone. Models start at $349. 
 
 There’s a famous saying about things that sound too good to be true. Still, it doesn’t hurt to keep an open mind about things when it comes to emerging technology. 
 
 A Florida startup company that made a splash at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show is selling a seemingly irresistible concept: A wearable device that gives you all the benefits of a runner’s high, minus the pesky tradition of actually running. 
 
 Cat Ear Headphones Approach Terminal Cuteness 
 
 Dubbed Nervana, the device pairs with your phone or music player to add low-power electric nerve stimulation to the audio feed going into your ear. According to the design team, the electrical pulse — timed with the beat of the music — triggers the brain’s vagus nerve, which in turn releases feel-good brain chemicals like dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin. These are the “reward” chemicals that the brain generates in response to stimuli like exercise or sex. 
 
 Artificial stimulation of the vagus nerve is nothing new, Nervana’s developers say. But they’ve come up with a way to do it without surgery or other invasive techniques. The device’s proprietary earbud technology delivers electrical stimulation to the inside surface of the ear canal and, thereby, the vagus nerve, according to the company’s promotional materials. 
 
 What’s more, the Nervana headphones analyze the audio signal coming in from your music player then generate targeted vagus nerve stimulation synchronized with the music signal. Or not: In ambient mode, the headphones don’t need an electronic input signal at all — they’ll key the nerve pulses to go along with whatever music or sound is in the immediate environment. At a concert, say. 
 
 Hack Your Brain to Improve Your Health 
 
 As of now, there’s not much hard evidence backing up the company’s claims. And since the device is being marketed as a lifestyle and wellness device, the company doesn’t need any medical or FDA approval. But the Nervana development team has several MDs on board, and anecdotal reports from this year’s CES suggest that something is going on with the Nervana headphones. 
 
 The company plans to start selling pre-orders for the $299 headphones in the next couple of weeks, with delivery slated for sometime this spring. Rock on. 
 
 via Futurism ||||| All of the Fun, None of the Workout 
 
 If you think about it, every company exhibiting at CES is trying to sell the same thing: happiness. But of the booths I visited last week at the yearly electronics trade show in Las Vegas, only one delivered directly on that promise. 
 
 Nervana (not to be confused with Nervana Systems), a startup founded by a team of medical professionals with day jobs as doctors and nurses, makes hardware that stimulates your brain to release dopamine, aka the happiness chemical. 
 
 The brain naturally responds to stimuli from exercise, music, sex, drugs, gambling, and other activities with a hit of dopamine, which makes us feel a rush of pleasure. Experts in women’s brain physiology say dopamine has special effects for women.Naomi Wolf summarizes their findings in her book, calling dopamine “the ultimate feminist chemical”, essential to a woman’s ability to feel confident and creative. 
 
 I tried Nervana with a few friends (I’ll refer to them as Conor, Joel, and Agustina since those are their names), and even though our sample size is small, we experienced happiness sensations that we believe resulted from the trial. 
 
 Conor and Joel said they felt an electric prickle when they first put on the headset, which intensified as they cranked up the volume and the intensity of their experience on the generator. The prickling persisted through the 15 or so minutes of music (you could choose from a list of 10 or so tracks that included Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, and ambient noise). For about an hour afterward, they both felt unusually calm and happy; Conor also claimed the device cured his hangover. 
 
 Agustina and I felt much more powerful sensations while trying Nervana, consistent with Naomi Wolf’s convictions about women’s reactions to dopamine. 
 
 “I felt the electricity go into my arm, and everything was tingling there, but the best moment for me was afterwards when I finished and stood up,” Agustina said. “I felt like I reached a personal high point. I couldn’t stop smiling or laughing. I was like, ‘Oh wow’. For about five minutes, my happiness level was a 10 out of 10. Then it got foggier, but I was still unusually happy for about an hour.” 
 
 My experience was close to Agustina’s, except possibly even fuller, since I cranked up the intensity on the generator to the maximum, so that I perceived waves of feeling caused by the stimulation even while the music was still playing. For me, the effect was so intense it felt beyond doubt that it was caused by the device. 
 
 If Nervana does what it claims (and what we experienced subjectively), the potential benefits are almost limitless, ranging from recreational to therapeutic. Not only could it be used as a therapy on people suffering with depression, anxiety, and probably a host of other disorders, it could also potentially replace party drugs like molly by delivering a high and enhancing the immersive quality of music without posing the health risk. 
 
 “Taking something that basically poisons our bodies can be deadly, unfortunately, but Nervana can enhance the pleasure of music without any drugs,” said Dr. Daniel Cartledge, one of the MD’s on the founding team. “I think this could add great entertainment value to music festivals.” 
 
 We conducted our own science experiment 
 
 One of Nervana’s greatest challenges is to prove objectively that the product works. Its founders haven’t discovered a way to quantify the amount of dopamine in the brain at a given time. They don’t have any means of gathering quantitative data other than users self-reporting happiness on a standard mood scale. 
 
 Luckily, Conor and Joel happen to be the cofounders (and CEO and president, respectively) of Open BCI, a brain-computer interface company that produces the Ultracortex: a device you can wear on your head that monitors your brain activity. 
 
 So we decided to use the Ultracortex to test the Nervana experience. Conor wore the Ultracortex, which collected his EEG data before, during, and after the stimulation. Since Open BCI collects data, but doesn’t analyze it, we’re still waiting for the official results to come back from the experts. 
 
 Joel watched Conor’s EEG on a monitor while he was being stimulated, and said that although no huge changes were easily perceptible to a casual observer, he might’ve seen an increase in the frequency of alpha waves during Nervana. 
 
 “There may have been some more alpha wave activity in the 25-30 hertz range,” Joel said, “but watching it live, it’s difficult to know.” 
 
 Here’s where the cofounders explain everything to me. And sex. 
 
 I spoke with two of the cofounders, its nurse CEO Ami Brannon and electrical engineer Gregory Mayback, about just what it was exactly that they’d done to my brain. (Note: The interview has been condensed and edited for brevity and clarity.) 
 
 Me: Want to explain what you just did to me for the past 15 minutes? 
 
 Ami: We have a device that sends an electrical signal through the ear canal to stimulate the release of dopamine in your brain. There’s an electrical signal that’s paired with music. It follows the beat of the music, and and it makes it really pleasant. Through a conductive earbud, it sends a message through the vagus nerve in your ear, which sends a message to the brain to release dopamine, your feel-good neurotransmitter that naturally occurs in the brain. 
 
 Me: What’s the vagus nerve, and how does it tell my brain to release dopamine? 
 
 Ami: The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in your body, and through it, we can access the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the part of the nervous system that helps the body to relax and feel good. It elicits those warm feelings like when you feel love. Dopamine is commonly associated with the feeling of being in love. We kind of tickle the nerve to remind it to send out some dopamine. 
 
 Me: Is there any danger to stimulating the vagus nerve to produce dopamine when it wouldn’t necessarily do so, or more often than it would naturally? 
 
 Ami: No. There are actually several decades of science behind vagus nerve stimulation. Historically, vagus nerve stimulators have only been implanted through surgery. Our team is made up of physicians, medical researchers, and engineers who knew about the vagus nerve implant surgery, and that the nerve stimulates a nice feeling. So bringing that feeling to consumers without the surgery was our goal from the beginning. 
 
 Me: Wow, I’ve never heard of a vagus nerve implant surgery. What kind of person gets a surgery like that, to treat what kind of condition? 
 
 Ami: The surgery has been used as a treatment for epilepsy, depression, obesity, and more. Recently a surgically implanted vagus nerve stimulation device got FDA indications for obesity. But those are medical devices. We’re a lifestyle and wellness device, and we’re not seeking FDA approval or making medical claims. 
 
 Me: And yet, you clearly think this would be of interest to people suffering from certain medical conditions, as consumers. Tell me about that. 
 
 Ami: As a company we’ll eventually look at delving into the medical device world. I think universities will be very interested in using this. They haven’t been able to to treat patients effectively since often surgery isn’t an option. 
 
 Me: Honestly if I had one of these sets I’d be doing this every day. Are you sure there isn’t any harm in doing this over and over? How often do you guys do it? 
 
 Ami: Based on all the literature that’s out there, there’s really no harm. We actually don’t have a device ourselves right now, but the engineers building the devices try them out all the time. We start pre-sale of the device in the next week or two on our site, and then we’ll be delivering it in the spring. The price point is $299, which we think is pretty reasonable. 
 
 Me: Explain to me the connection to music. I was encouraged to turn the music to the highest volume that was enjoyable, I cranked up the intensity, and I started noticing the effects as the beat dropped. Is that what you expected? 
 
 Greg: Yes, that’s the intent of adding it to music. The signal rides the wave of the music itself. The music is playing at a particular frequency, the the signal follows the rhythm. Every once in a while, it’ll be off because it happens to be following one instrument rather than another, but it follows in a pleasurable way. 
 
 Me: Do you need music in order to have the experience? 
 
 Greg: No, you just need to be wearing the headset. 
 
 Ami: It’s a very personal device, you can completely adjust the settings. You can kind of play around with the settings, like, do I want to feel more intense signal? Do I feel that good feeling more if I increase the signal or do I just want a little mild setting? 
 
 Me: I can see so many applications of this at festivals and concerts. Have you thought about that? 
 
 Ami: We do have a mode on the generator called ambient mode. We have the microphone on there, so that if you’re at a festival, everyone can get the same signal at the same time all listening to the same DJ or whatever. 
 
 Me: I’ve got to ask you guys about drugs. Any comments on how the experience of this compares, potentially, to a substance like ecstasy or MDMA? 
 
 Greg: I couldn’t comment because I just drink alcohol. 
 
 Me: Ok, what about sex? Have you thought about demoing Nervana with sex? 
 
 Ami: Yes! We talk about it all the time, but we haven’t been able to decide yet who gets to go first. We all volunteer. I think there’s an applicability there, heightening the pleasure experience in what already is a good thing. We started off being a device to help you relax, but in what situation is pleasure better than when you’re relaxed? So sex is definitely at the top of our list. 
 
 Me: Would you ever consider this within the realm of augmented reality (AR)? 
 
 Greg: Oh sure, absolutely. Why wouldn’t it be? When you talk about virtual reality, you’re talking about five or six senses, depending on who you are. But when you’re looking and feeling something, why wouldn’t you also want to, like, hear a truck go by and have a signal there that makes you feel something different? ||||| Safety 
 
 NERVANA can be used at any time. During a stressful day, after an intense workout, at a concert, or any time you want to replace tension with calm feelings. 
 
 Based on our research and testing, we recommend sessions of 15-45 minutes twice daily to promote wellness and balance. 
 
 NERVANA has been tested on hundreds of adults. In the testing of our product, we have seen no evidence of safety issues, including with continued use. Also, there are more than three decades of published research on Vagus nerve stimulation and the development of the science associated with Vagus nerve stimulation. 
 
 Because NERVANA can create a state of deeper relaxation, you should not drive a car, operate heavy machinery, or engage in any other activity in which electrical stimulation can put you at risk for injury while using NERVANA or for thirty minutes after use. 
 
 In the testing of our product, we have not seen evidence of dependency. Decades of published medical literature on Vagus nerve stimulation support this observation and are readily accessible online from numerous sources. 
 
 The effects of NERVANA can be felt within minutes and, for some users, can last as long as a half-hour after one session. The more consistently you use NERVANA, the easier it becomes to realize your ultimate state of relaxation. Everyone’s experience is unique and may be described differently.
– A new company that's betting there's a big market out there for folks who'd like to, say, enjoy a runner's high without having to, well, run are about to unleash a new device that could very well induce a dopamine high. Florida-based Nervana, a wearable tech company run by nurses, doctors, and engineers, is about to take pre-orders for its $299 electric headphones with an anticipated spring delivery, reports Discovery. But the science is still out: While Nervana reports that its proprietary earbud tech sends electrical stimulation to the vagus nerve by way of the ear canal to stimulate feel-good hormones like dopamine, the company calls it a "lifestyle and wellness" device instead of a medical device, thereby sidestepping rigorous scientific inquiry, FDA approval, and the like. Anecdotally, early reviews are somewhat divided. The folks who tried the device out for Futurism at the Consumer Electronics Show this week had only praise; the writer notes that dopamine has "special effects" for women and goes so far as to confess, "Honestly if I had one of these sets I'd be doing this every day." Engadget writer Daniel Cooper, meanwhile, describes his 15 minutes with the headphones differently, having felt only a "mild sense of elation that lasted until I shut down the device, and for the next five minutes, I was a little spaced out." He notes the elation may have simply been due to the fact that he'd been given momentary respite from the loud din of a trade show. (Check out other notable gizmos at this year's CES.)