Muse S Athena: The first wearable that trains your brain like a muscle

The Drop: The Muse S Athena combines EEG sensors with fNIRS technology to monitor brain activity and blood oxygenation simultaneously.

The Details

While most of us focus on physical fitness as we age, our cognitive health often takes a backseat. With dementia affecting 6 million Americans and projected to double by 2060, Muse is tackling this challenge head-on with technology that was previously only available in research labs.

Muse monitors brain activity and blood oxygenation simultaneously.

The Muse S Athena isn’t just another meditation device — it’s a complete cognitive fitness system that measures and trains three dimensions of mental performance:

• Mental strength (how efficiently your brain uses oxygen)
• Mental clarity (your ability to shift between brain states)
• Mental recovery (how well your brain restores itself)

Just as a heart rate monitor revolutionized cardio training by making “invisible” progress visible, Athena aims to do same for your brain by showing real-time changes in brain activity and oxygenation. This dual-monitoring approach reveals how your brain performs under stress, maintains focus, and recovers—metrics that were previously impossible to track outside a laboratory.

Muse is the first consumer wearable combining EEG and fNIRS sensors.

Powered by Muse’s AI-driven Foundational Brain Model (trained on over 80,000 brain sessions), Athena expands beyond meditation into full cognitive training. The system introduces an innovative “owl flight” training exercise where users control a virtual owl using only mental effort — when you focus effectively, the owl soars; when mental strain decreases, it glides.

This gamified approach helps build focus, resilience, and concentration in real-time, supporting both eyes-open (for dynamic tasks) and eyes-closed (for meditation) training scenarios.

Research-grade tech in consumer form

The Athena combines two powerful brain-monitoring technologies:

EEG (electroencephalogram): Tracks electrical brain activity, showing how your mind shifts between states like focus or relaxation.

fNIRS (functional near-infrared spectroscopy): Monitors brain oxygenation, revealing how well your brain is fueled to handle stress and sustained attention.

Together, these technologies provide a multidimensional view of mental effort that neither could achieve alone. The system also enhances sleep tracking by monitoring brain oxygenation and SpO₂ levels, potentially detecting early signs of sleep apnea more effectively than wrist-based trackers.

Where to buy

The Muse S Athena is available now for $474.99 USD at choosemuse.com.