What is NeuroFit?

A pseudo business and prototype for a tDCS product that is meant to question what society and consumers deem "ideal" neurological functions. I want the prototype to be functional, but have the sign-up flow indicate to the user that the first step in neuro-hacking should be in establish a healthy baseline (e.g. sleep, nutrition, work-life balance) — a common, but sometimes overlooked point made by prominent neuro-hacking speakers.

Inspiration

Inspiration for this project stems from the productivity/efficiency lifestyle movements (e.g. Tim Ferris), the online neuro-hacking communities found on community boards like Reddit's [/r/nootropics](https://reddit.com/r/nootropics), lifestyle fitness startups (e.g. Peloton, Soulcycle), and satrical speculative design projects like the Imaginary Catalog.

Target Audience

Tech enabled professionals seeking an edge to be more productive, i.e. someone who is perfectly happy to replace all meals with Soylent.

Precedent

There are existing companies that market themselves in a similar, but non-satirical, fashion:

Research

First hand experience

  • http://traffic.libsyn.com/futurethinkers/FTP042.mp3
  • https://youtu.be/xzbHtIrb14s
  • https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/9-volt-nirvana/
  • https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03190590?term=tdcs&recrs=a&map_cntry=US&map_state=US%3ANY&gndr=Male&age=1&hlth=Y&rank=4

Coverage

  • https://www.wired.com/2014/01/read-zapping-brain/
  • https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-diy-brain-booster-devices-work/
  • https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/bidm-nwa070816.php]
  • https://vitals.lifehacker.com/the-truth-about-electrical-brain-stimulation-1822192429
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26280313%20
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/nootropics/wiki/beginners

DIY Projects

  • https://www.reddit.com/r/tDCS/comments/2adacm/collected_knowledge_from_a_new_tdcs_convert/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/tDCS/comments/qn6s5/diy_tdcs_howto/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/tDCS/comments/2e7idx/simple_montage_list_with_electrode_placement_and/
  • https://www.diytdcs.com/2017/05/diy-tdcs-youtube-catch-up/
  • https://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Human-Enhancement-Device-Basic-tDCS-Suppl/
  • https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/build-tdcs-brain-stimulator/

Obstacles

  • Not being able to build a working (or safe) prototype
  • Project fails to highlight the core ethical question of how do we define "normal" or "ideal" neurological function