Sonera develops wearable sensors that detect biomagnetic fields generated by neural activity, designed to operate in real-world conditions. The company's self-described 'most powerful platform for biomagnetic sensing' aims to capture data about bodies, health, feelings, and thoughts at an unprecedented scale.

Sonera

Building sensors for non-invasive human-machine interfaces.

The neuroscience team at Sonera just released a preprint diving into magnetic muscle sensing – magnetomyography (MMG) – a woefully understudied modality we are working to leverage. While MMG has been observed before (more than 50 years ago!) no one had characterized the signals or done a direct comparison with surface EMG.

A large part of why MMG has not been in the spotlight is also the biggest hurdle for bringing MMG out of the lab to more practical applications: limitations of available sensors. This is where Sonera comes in with our novel magnetic sensor that will allow for cheap, low power, high density arrays.

Looking forward to sharing our next update on how MMG can be used!

Magnetic sensing of muscle activity is a serious contender for building high-performance non-invasive human-computer interfaces that has been largely overlooked (for now!).

Today we’re circulating a preprint with results highlighting the potential power of this modality and how it could become a key component of next-generation sensing.

Blog post for context: https://lnkd.in/gS24iAQa
Preprint on bioRxiv: https://lnkd.in/g3tDkq-4

tl;dr – magnetic muscle sensing (MMG) shows potential for higher specificity, better localization and greater robustness in real-world conditions as compared to its widely used counterpart, surface electromyography (sEMG). If we can make this possible at scale, we can build neuro-motor interfaces that are far more advanced and pervasive than what exists today.

Less than one week until Neural Control of Movement 2024, in Dubrovnik. I'm especially excited about the neuroengineering-focused Satellite Meeting we've organized. It's particularly cool, and a sign of a maturing field, that NCM now has vibrant industry participation (as researchers, not only vendors), with Satellite Meeting speakers from Neuralink, Meta Reality Labs, and Sonera.

Details at https://lnkd.in/gKiGfrWG

Seemingly out of nowhere, Sonera closes $11 million seed round. https://lnkd.in/eYbjNDms

What if we could make brain activity as easy to measure as heart rate? Excited to finally share more about what we've been up to at Sonera in pursuit of this goal and announce our latest $11M raise led by Amplify Partners, with participation from Spark Capital, Material Impact, Boom Capital, and Abstract Ventures.

In the next phase of our work, we’ll be building prototypes to showcase the utility of our novel sensing technology and are excited about applications we can enable that border on science fiction: neural interfaces that can interact with generative AI systems; hearing aids that dynamically adjust to neural data in real-time; more intelligent prosthetics to restore motor function; gaming experiences designed to work exclusively with gesture-controlled digital hands; and new tools for studying and advancing psychedelic medicines. 

Read more on our blog: https://lnkd.in/grzW-Xm5
Check out our careers page for open roles: https://lnkd.in/g_KMjHce
Coverage from Axios: https://lnkd.in/gKGGdbt5

🚨 New Axios exclusive: Sonera snags seed round of $11M

The company, which builds sensors for noninvasive human-machine interfaces, raised $11 million in seed round funding, CEO and cofounder Nishita Deka tell told me  exclusively.

Why it matters: The company joins a crop of brain-machine interface startups looking to use noninvasive methods.

Traditionally, biomagnetic sensors have not been scalable because they are bulky, expensive and have usability limitations due to high performance requirements.

#healthtech #venturecapital 

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