Muse S Athena by InteraXon: status and timeline

Muse S Athena

Bring brain measurement into everyday life, using the signal to improve sleep and attention rather than just tracking them.

ScalingStage 5 of 5

On sale since March 2025 at $475; 2026 software added deep-sleep sound cues and a brain-timed alarm.

Updated 7 Apr 2026Checked 11 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · Next sleep features: Sleep Goal Wake, Dream Retention Mode

Original Muse headband releasedMay 2014Complete.
Muse 2 adds heart, breath and movement sensing2018Complete.
Muse S Athena launched with EEG + fNIRS18 Mar 2025Complete.
Deep Sleep Boost released9 Feb 2026Complete.
Smart Wakeup brain-timed alarm released15 Apr 2026Complete.
Next sleep features: Sleep Goal Wake, Dream Retention ModeTarget 2026Not yet reached.

Most important updates

Upcoming

2026Next sleep features: Sleep Goal Wake, Dream Retention Mode (next)

Current obstacles

Evidence beyond company studiesDeep Sleep Boost gains (about 76% more organized slow waves) come from beta users; independent trials on health outcomes are still thin.
Price and subscriptionAt $475 plus a premium plan for features like Smart Wakeup, it costs far more than wrist trackers that estimate sleep from heart rate.

Physics limits

The skull blurs brain signalsEEG at the scalp sums the activity of millions of neurons through bone and skin, so it shows broad rhythms like sleep stages but cannot pinpoint what a small brain area is doing.
Light reaches only the outer brainNear-infrared light penetrates roughly a centimetre or two into the cortex, so fNIRS sees only the brain's surface, and its blood signal lags actual neural activity by seconds.
Movement swamps tiny voltagesBrain signals are millionths of a volt; jaw clenches, eye movements and shifting in bed create far larger electrical noise that must be filtered out.

How it works

4 parts

Brainwaves

EEG through a fabric band

Dry electrodes record the brain's electrical rhythms. Deep sleep shows as big, slow waves; alert focus as faster, smaller ones.

Oxygen

fNIRS on the forehead

LEDs send near-infrared light into the frontal cortex; how much returns shows oxygen-rich versus oxygen-poor blood, a proxy for brain workload.

Deep sleep

Sound timed to slow waves

When the model sees deep sleep, near-silent pink-noise pulses play in step with each slow wave, which can make the deep-sleep rhythm stronger.

Waking

Alarm that waits for light sleep

Within a 30 to 60 minute window, Smart Wakeup sounds the alarm when brainwaves show lighter sleep, or at the latest set time.

Spec sheet

Spec	Muse S Athena
EEG sensors	7 dry sensors^R (reported)
Optical brain sensing	fNIRS (blood flow + oxygen)^R (reported)
Other sensors	PPG heart rate, accelerometer, gyroscope^R (reported)
Price (headband)	$474.99^R (reported)
Brain model training set	80,000+ sessions^R (reported)
Brain data collected (all Muse)	1 billion+ minutes^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Update log

4 updates

About InteraXon

The team behind Muse S Athena

InteraXon

Muse EEG headbands, sleep and focus

InteraXon, a Toronto company, makes Muse, the best-known consumer brain-sensing headband. Its newest model, Muse S Athena, pairs brainwave sensors with optical blood-oxygen sensing and uses them to coach meditation and to improve sleep.

Muse S Athena (March 2025, $475) pairs EEG brainwave sensing with fNIRS, which reads blood oxygen in the frontal brain.
In 2026 it turned the headband into a sleep tool: sound timed to deep-sleep brainwaves and an alarm that waits for light sleep.
Says it has decoded over 1 billion minutes of brain recordings and that 200+ outside-led studies have used Muse.

choosemuse.com (opens choosemuse.com)Company profile →

Founded: 200719 yrs
Headquarters: Canada
Status: Private
Valuation: private
Raised: $9.5M1 round
Last round: Series C · $9.5MAug 2022
Works in: NeurotechNon-invasive
Coverage: 1 program · 4 updateslatest 7 Apr 2026checked 11 Oct
Lead investors: BDC CapitalAlabasterExport Development Canada
Investors: BDC CapitalAlabasterExport Development Canada
People: Jean-Michel Fournier (opens biospace.com)CEOChris Aimone (opens insider.fitt.co)Co-founder & Chief Innovation Officer

Spec

Muse S Athena

EEG sensors

7 dry sensors^R (reported)

Optical brain sensing

fNIRS (blood flow + oxygen)^R (reported)

Other sensors

PPG heart rate, accelerometer, gyroscope^R (reported)

Price (headband)

$474.99^R (reported)

Brain model training set

80,000+ sessions^R (reported)

Brain data collected (all Muse)

1 billion+ minutes^R (reported)

Muse S Athena

Milestones

Most important updates

Upcoming

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

EEG through a fabric band

fNIRS on the forehead

Sound timed to slow waves

Alarm that waits for light sleep

Spec sheet

Update log

Tue 7 Apr

Mon 9 Feb

Tue 14 Oct 2025

Tue 18 Mar 2025

About InteraXon

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

EEG through a fabric band

fNIRS on the forehead

Sound timed to slow waves

Alarm that waits for light sleep

Spec sheet

Update log

Tue 7 Apr

Mon 9 Feb

Tue 14 Oct 2025

Tue 18 Mar 2025

About InteraXon