2016 has brought us a surge in the availability of high tech wearable devices designed to optimize our daily lives. With our health and fitness and even sleeping lives enhanced by wearables, the next wave of wearable technology is geared towards enhancing the human brain.
Thync is a wearable unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Using pulsed energy to activate your nervous system to enhance your natural state of calm or energy, Thync is backed by science and promises to allow users to kick back and relax or hype themselves up without drinks or pills.
Does Thync really deliver as a digital buzz? What’s the science behind this futuristic mind-enhancer? In this article we’ll take a closer look at Thync from the ground up and how the ‘vibes’ think claims to deliver work.
What is Thync?
The human race has been using mind-altering techniques since time immemorial. There is historical evidence of humans using psychoactive substances to change the way they think from the earliest epochs of history, some ten thousand years ago. Chewing coca leaves for their stimulant effect has its origins roughly eight thousand years ago, and caffeine in the form of coffee has been popular worldwide since its discovery in Ethiopia in the 11th century.
In more recent years there has been a surge in the study of ‘nootropics’, or drugs, supplements, or other substances that improve cognitive function. Experimenting the way the mind works appears to be an integral part of the human experience, and as our daily habits evolve into the digital age, it seems that our mental manipulation efforts must evolve as well.
Enter Thync. Thync consists of three elements- the Thync module, which sits comfortably on the forehead of the user, Strips that are placed on the back of the neck, and a mobile app that controls the user experience.
The Thync platform uses this hardware to deliver five to twenty minute long programs, called ‘vibes’, that are designed to either increase energy levels, enhance meditative states, or help users relax. Vibes can be used to improve sleep and overall rest and recovery, lower stress levels, and boost energy levels without coffee or energy drinks.
What is a Vibe, though? Thync describes their Vibes as low energy waveforms that produce mood changes by stimulating nerves on the head and in the back of the neck. Pulsed energy currents are sent into these nerves both from the Thync Module and the disposable Strips producing the desired effect by delivering neurosignaling waveforms to the brain along neural pathways.
Thync offer scientific evidence on their site that running a daily 10 minute Vibe for one week can lower stress, improve sleep, and raise a user’s overall mood.
How Does Thync Work?
Thync uses a well established and scientifically proven technique of interfacing with the brain called Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation, or tDCS. tDCS has existed for over 100 years and has historically been used to help patients with brain injuries or psychiatric conditions like major depressive disorder.
Recent research has demonstrated that tDCS can be used to provide positive mood changes in users.
The Thync system, however, is vastly changed from traditional tDCS treatment. Thync is essentially a miniaturized tDCS system, using a proprietary neurosignaling technology to deliver lower-intensity and higher-frequency outputs delivered through biocompatible materials.
There are three steps to using Thync. Users firstly strap Thync onto a strip, then place a disposable Vibe strip onto the head and neck. The Vibe strips contain proprietary Thync technology over multiple layers and are coated in a non-irritant skin friendly adhesive to hold them in place.
The Vibe strips are recommended for single use, but can be used multiple times on clean skin. After setting up the Thync, users select a Vibe experience from the smartphone app.
Vibe experience range from Zen, to induce mental and physical calm, Sleep for inducing refreshing and restorative sleep, Bliss for a dose of drug-free intoxication and relaxation, and many more.
The mobile app that controls the Vibe experience is streamlined and user friendly, offering a countdown on the time remaining in the current Vibe session. Thync has made their app available on both iOS 8+ and Android Lollipop and Marshmallow.
The Thync Effect
Does Thync really work, though? Thync has recently released a comprehensive study into the effects of their device via open-access online journal BioRxiv. Using their proprietary neurosignaling technique, Thync determined that it can significantly suppress sympathetic activity in response to acute stress without impeding cognitive performance.
Thync claims that their device provides significant results in four fifths of users, but like any sort of training, requires practice over time to have the best result.
Thync recommends using their vibes 3-6 times per week and on their website link to a plethora of review from satisfied users that attest to the mind-altering benefits of the Thync Vibe system.
Thync has has also been uncovering solid results in the world of sports. Athletic professionals using Thync Vibes have been demonstrating a 3% to 5% improvement in output and performance, and in the high-stakes games of international sport such as the Rio Olympics, a small percentage can be the difference between a gold and silver medal.
Over time Thync aims to have partnership and sponsorship with professional athletes, offering premium specially designed Vibes for individual sports.
There are a few caveats to Thync’s mood enhancing benefits, however. Users with Pacemakers, implanted defibrillators or users that are prone to fainting are advised to stay away. Pregnant mothers or individuals with a history epilepsy or seizures are warned against using the Thync due to the electrical stimulation nature of the device.
Thync Pricing and Availability.
Confident in the Thync’s ability to literally change people’s minds, Thync offers the entire platform on a 30 day money back guarantee for just $1 US. For $1 Thync will ship you a Thync module, four Strips, and calm/energy vibes so you can discover if Thync Vibes are really for you.
If you’re ready to get on board with the Thync and start getting your daily digital fix, the Thync is available for order now via their website and will ship with the Thync module, five Calm Strips, five Energy Strips, a charging cable and a user guide.