NextMind

Pioneer in non-invasive, visual-cortex-based BCI for consumer and developer XR applications

NextMind was a Paris-based neurotechnology startup founded in 2017 that developed a groundbreaking non-invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) device. The company's flagship product was a small wearable sensor worn on the back of the head that read electrical signals from the visual cortex, enabling users to control digital interfaces through focused attention alone — without any physical movement or voice commands. The technology worked in real-time and was notable for its low latency and consumer-friendly form factor compared to other BCI solutions. NextMind positioned itself at the intersection of neuroscience, human-computer interaction, and extended reality. The company released a developer kit in early 2020 targeted at researchers, developers, and XR enthusiasts, generating significant interest in the immersive technology community. Its technology was seen as a potential paradigm shift for how humans could interact with AR and VR environments, eliminating the need for handheld controllers or gesture-based input. In March 2022, Snap Inc. acquired NextMind to integrate its neural interface expertise into Snap's augmented reality research division, SnapLab. Following the acquisition, NextMind ceased operating as an independent company and its developer kit was discontinued. The team and technology were absorbed into Snap's broader AR hardware and interaction research efforts, effectively ending NextMind's existence as a distinct commercial entity. The acquisition underscored growing Big Tech interest in novel input modalities for the next generation of AR wearables.