• by Joe Mandese , March 21, 2011

In what it claims is a major breakthrough in the burgeoning field of so-called neuromrketing research, Nielsen-backed NeuroFocus this morning unveiled a new biometric measurement technology it claims will revolutionize the way Madison Avenue thinks about how its consumers think. NeuroFocus claims the technology, a cap-like device that can read the brainwaves of people who wear it, will leapfrog current methods of neurological testing, because it is lightweight, mobile and "medical grade."

The announcement comes with a bit of a backstory, and an unusual amount of drama for what normally is a dry, staid community of academic researchers, but which is also become a high stakes opportunity in a new, extremely promising field of marketing and media research. The relatively young field, which is based on recent breakthroughs in neuroscience and a variety of biometric testing technologies utilizing brainwaves (EEGs), brain scans (fMRIs), eye-tracking, heart rates, galvanic skin responses, and even simple facial coding, has a goal of finally answering Madison Avenue's oldest and most vexing questions, including what people actually think and feel when they are exposed to advertising, media, and other forms of brand communication such as package design.

The backstory and drama come from the fact that the Advertising Research Foundation is holding its annual conference in New York this week, and also is set to unveil the findings of Madison Avenue's first ever benchmark study trying to establish guidelines and standards around the new field of neuroscientific research. Curiously, NeuroFocus declined to participate in the process, including a review of its technical research and a side-by-side test of actual consumer research that eight other leading companies, utilizing various methods, all participated in.

But with a bit of flair and showmanship, NeuroFocus let it be known that it was poised to make its own big news during the conference, via the unveiling of its new Mynd system this morning.

Dr. A.K. Pradeep, the founder and CEO of NeuroFocus told MediaDailyNews that the Mynd represents a breakthrough, not just because of its lightweight nature, and the fact that it utilizes a "dry electrode" method that doesn't require people to put wet gels on their heads to be tested, but because it can read their brain signals with a level of fidelity that was not previously possible.

In fact, he says the technology was developed in collaboration with TOBI (Tools For Brain-Computer Interaction), a non-profit European organization that has been trying to develop technology that would enable paralyzed people to control devices and machines such as automatic wheel chairs, simply by using their brains to think what they want them to do.

Because the Mynd device also includes wireless Bluetooth technology enabling it to sync with various Bluetooth enabled devices such as smartphones, tablets, computers and gaming systems, Dr. Pradeep says it will enable media researchers to understand aspects of consumer behavior never before possible.

Detractors say much of the technology and science behind Mynd is not new, has existed in various forms, and that its "dry electrodes" methodology is still an unproven and unreliable commodity in the field.

Dr. Pradeep says that is not the case, and that the innovations that led to the development of Mynd will enable researchers to measure and interpret the "entire symphony" of signals - both high and low range ones - generated by the brains of people being measured. What scientists, market researchers, advertisers and agencies do with that information, of course, may be an even bigger issue than the fact that they can now measure it.