Latest “Galea Beta” device was revealed for the first time on-stage, along with
OpenBCI’s future vision for “Galea Unlimited” wearable computer
Key Details:
● OpenBCI’s “Galea Beta” device was shown for the first time and will ship to Galea Beta
pre-order customers in Q2 2024.
● Future vision of Galea brand also revealed: “Galea Unlimited” a fully-wearable computer
that merges neurotechnology, spatial computing, and artificial intelligence.
● OpenBCI sets its sights on driving the next computing revolution by incorporating the
user’s mind and body into the “closed-loop” of inputs and outputs.
● Series A fundraise kicks off in January to build on Galea Beta traction and start “building
the full computer,” Galea Unlimited.
Dec 1, 2023 - Helsinki, Finland
Today at Slush 2023, OpenBCI Founder & CEO, Conor Russomanno revealed the company’s
vision for the future of computing. OpenBCI has spent the last decade building hardware and
software for interfacing with the brain and body. The company’s Galea product line combines
multiple forms of physiological sensors with head-mounted displays. On-stage today,
Russomanno showed the Galea Beta device for the first time, and defined the long-term plan for
the Galea product line as “building the full computer, or what we’re calling Galea Unlimited.”
OpenBCI’s highly-anticipated Galea Beta device includes a range of sensors that simultaneously
measure the user’s heart, skin, muscles, eyes, and brain. Galea Beta includes eye-tracking and
displays from Finnish headset-maker, Varjo and can be ordered with the Varjo Aero, XR-3 or the
recently announced XR-4. The Galea Beta sensors can be used without the HMD, or can be
tethered to a high-powered PC and used for collecting data from VR and XR environments.
“The Galea Beta program has drawn significant interest from innovation teams across gaming,
entertainment, aviation, simulation & training, and human factors engineering for automotive
and other industrial applications,” according to OpenBCI President & CCO Joseph Artuso.
“Feedback from our early partners at Valve and AFRL has been instrumental in the development
of Galea Beta. The common theme across our early adopters is a desire to use Galea’s sensor
data to help quantify otherwise qualitative mental experiences.”
In addition to the public reveal of Galea Beta, Russomanno discussed OpenBCI’s vision for the
future of the product line: Galea Unlimited. “Our long-term goal for Galea is to bring everything
you see here on the table, together into one device. Optics, CPU, I/O and sensors, in one tightly
synchronized integrated system.”
With the announcement of Galea Unlimited, OpenBCI joins the race alongside Apple, Meta, and
an emerging class of hardware-focused newcomers all looking to define the next evolution of
our everyday computers. Russomanno and team believe that the convergence of spatial.
computing, wearable sensors, and artificial intelligence will define the next generation of
devices.
Earlier this year, at the TED Possibilities conference in Toronto, Russomanno articulated the
Company’s progression from focusing primarily on EEG data from the brain, to a more
multi-modal approach:
“What we learned from all of this is that the brain by itself is actually quite boring. Turns
out brain data alone lacks context. And what we ultimately care about is not the brain, but
the mind, consciousness, human cognition.”
Galea Unlimited will provide much-needed context by including the ability to combine multiple
wireless sensor “coins” into a network that allows users to add or subtract additional sensors or
stimulators around the body. By running the entire network from a single system clock, OpenBCI
aims to reduce the latency and synchronization challenges that often plague biosensor-driven
applications. Russomanno also acknowledged recent advancements in machine learning and AI
as an essential catalyst for classifying the ocean of multi-dimensional sensor data into accurate
quantifications of a user’s intentions, emotions, and other qualitative mental experiences.
Guided by these insights, computers like Galea Unlimited will be able to truly personalize
themselves to the user’s mind and body, and pave the way for human-computer interactions
that feel more like a natural extension of the user’s own body.
“Imagine a digital assistant that actually understands your intent, without the need for
trial-and-error text or autocorrect instructions. Games, movies, and lesson plans that can tailor
themselves to the individual user. Healthcare and preventative care powered by personalized
data and an always on early warning system,” said Russomanno on-stage when discussing Galea
Unlimited’s applications.
“All this is possible, but only if users can trust that their device is acting in their best interest.
OpenBCI is committed to the primacy of user control over their personal data. Users need to be
firmly in control of the keys to their own mental vault. Part of the reason I’m sharing our
roadmap publicly is to increase the chances that this shift in the status quo is realized.”
OpenBCI is based in Brooklyn, NY and will be launching their Series A fundraise in January 2024
to build the future of computers through wearable neurotechnology.