Want to feel calm or energized? Thync has an app for that

SAN FRANCISCO — It's not rocket science. It's neuroscience.

Thync (pronounced "think") is the rare tech start-up whose ultimate rivals aren't other tech start-ups.

Instead, the company's wearable technology is better understood when compared to human mood-enhancers like red wine, energy drinks, coffee or drugs.

What Thync hopes to do — in 10 minutes or less — is create in its users nothing less than a desired state of mind, or mode, ranging from calm to creative to energetic.

"We can trigger these modes using neurotransmitters," says CEO and co-founder Isy Goldwasser.

It's a big goal that uses a simple headpiece that, in its beta version, is composed of two foam and plastic pads connected by a wire whose power can be controlled with an easy-to-use mobile app.

I recently tested the product along with USA TODAY San Francisco Bureau Chief Jon Swartz.

Based on how well it worked on both of us, Thync has the potential to create the most transformative consumer technology to come out of Silicon Valley in a long time.

To get there, though, the Los Gatos, Calif.-based company will have to come up with a finished product that passes muster with both consumers and regulators.

Toward those ends, Thync is "in dialog" with the Federal Drug Administration while it works out the kinks in its hardware and software, Goldwasser says.

The underlying technology is based on more than a decade of research done by Thync co-founder and Chief Science Officer Jamie Tyler of Arizona State University and Thync Executive Director Sumon Pal of Harvard, respectively.

The research has shown that human states of mind create in the brain electrical patterns that are consistent and recognizable.

In a process known as neuro-signaling, these patterns can be recreated using tiny electrical pulses.

Humans experience various mental states during which we feel calmer or have more energy, willpower or creativity, says Goldwasser.

"We have them, but can't call them up" on command, he says.

Thync is working to change that.

The company has been conducting laboratory tests for more than a year that involve hundreds of people, including students at City College of New York.

About three-quarters of them report receiving a "strong" or "moderate" response from the device, with "moderate" meaning like that experienced having "one to two cups of coffee," says Tyler.

More recently, Thync has begun field testing among its employees, family and friends.

In mid-November, Goldwasser, Tyler and Pal came to USA TODAY's San Francisco offices to demonstrate the beta version of the product.

For now, Thync offers users two options: I tested what's called the "energy vibe," while Swartz chose the setting designed to promote calm in the user's brain.

We each chose 12-minute tests and went into separate offices to conduct them.

The headpiece I wore had pads on the right temple and behind my right ear, while the "calm vibe" wearable Swartz used went between his right temple and the back of his neck.

Using the dials on the app to control the mood of my own brain was a bit unsettling at first, especially after I felt an uncomfortable twinge of energy behind my right ear.

But after trying several different settings, a power level between two-thirds and three-quarters of maximum smoothed out the experience.

After the later-afternoon test, I felt a sharper mental focus that lasted well into the evening, which included going to the Yahoo holiday party (which is more work than it sounds like).

The next morning, I experienced what felt like an elevated level of energy — even though I skipped my usual cup or two of coffee.

Swartz experienced an even more profound effect, reporting that his calming vibe lasted three days.

Replicating those type of results consistently will take many more months of field testing, says Goldwasser.

In the meantime, the company is careful not to call its product a medicine or treatment, despite its effects.

"The device isn't intended to treat or diagnose any disease or medical condition," he says, and is geared toward a mass audience.

Of other human mood-helpers ranging from Red Bull to red wine now used by hundreds of millions of consumers around the globe, Goldwasser adds: "Normal people need and use them."

The company has raised $13 million from investors, including Khosla Ventures.

Thync plans to demo the device in Las Vegas in early January, simultaneous with the huge Consumer Electronics Show, and have a product available on the market sometime next year.

John Shinal has covered tech and financial markets for more than 15 years at Bloomberg, BusinessWeek,The San Francisco Chronicle, Dow Jones MarketWatch, Wall Street Journal Digital Network and others. Follow him on Twitter: @johnshinal.