This brain-tracking gaming headset improved my aim and reaction time

HyperX is partnering with neurotechnology company Neurable to develop gaming headsets that can read brain activity in real-time. The collaboration was announced at CES, where I was able to demo a working prototype that uses EEG sensors embedded in the earpads to measure and display cognitive performance during gameplay.

This marks Neurable’s first venture into gaming hardware after launching the MW75 Neuro headphones with Master & Dynamic in 2024. Those headphones tracked focus levels to help users optimize their work sessions and study habits—now the company wants to give competitive gamers the same cognitive insights.

The benefits of a brain-tracking gaming headset

The EEG earpads measure brain activity in real-time.

The HyperX prototype integrates Neurable’s non-invasive brain-computer interface technology directly into the earcups, similar to how the MW75 Neuro worked. But instead of measuring sustained focus during work, the gaming application tracks metrics relevant to competitive play.

Neurable’s demo at CES showcases two new features: “Prime,” which provides pre-match cognitive preparation to get players into an optimal mental state, and “Broadcast,” which displays live brain activity visualizations during gameplay.

During my demo, I began with a first-person shooter aiming test to establish a baseline performance. After that, I went through the Prime phase, which depicted my brain state as a swirling vortex of tiny blue dots. I closed my eyes and began to relax my mind. After a couple of minutes, the dots started to concentrate closer together as my focus increased, until they all unified into a central focus point. It’s a nice visualization for your mental state. Now primed and in the zone, I took the first-person shooter test again and actually performed better. While my accuracy remained nearly the same, my reaction time was almost cut in half, and I hit significantly more targets, setting a new high score.

During gameplay, the Broadcast feature kicked in, showing me several ways brain data can be overlaid onto the game hub. There was a speedometer for what they call cognitive speed, essentially measuring your concentration and focus levels, as well as a health bar for my brain, which decreased as I became more fatigued and alerted me to take a break, rest, and recuperate. I can definitely see this data helping people improve their gameplay over time. In theory, these stats could also be displayed during streams or live broadcasts, allowing fans to see the real-time mental focus of esports athletes.

The game hub displays live data, such as cognitive speed and brain health.

According to a preliminary study conducted by Neurable with semi-professional esports athletes, the neurofeedback system showed measurable performance gains. Every day, gamers improved their reaction times by an average of 43 milliseconds, increased their accuracy by 0.53%, and hit nearly nine additional targets during FPS training sessions. Among collegiate and professional players, accuracy rose nearly 3% with reaction times improving by 38 milliseconds and over 21 additional targets hit on average.

So when can you get in the game?

Coming to a HyperX headset soon.

Despite the CES announcement, this is a development partnership rather than a product launch. HyperX and Neurable haven’t revealed a specific product name, release date, pricing, or final specifications, but it’s really just a matter of them both choosing which HyperX headset model to slap a pair of Neurable’s EEG earpads onto.

The gaming wearables market is projected to grow from $5 billion today to nearly $20 billion by 2034, and Neurable is positioning brain-tracking as the next major category after heart rate monitors and sleep trackers. Whether gamers will pay a premium for cognitive performance metrics remains to be seen.

For now, the HyperX neurotechnology headset is a compelling demo of where gaming peripherals are headed.