( CNN ) -- Imagine a gadget that knows your mind better than you do . Picture a device that can rank the activities in your life that bring you joy , or interject your typed words with your feelings . One woman has helped create just that . Ariel Garten believes that the brain -- with its 100 billion neurons that receive , register , and respond to thoughts and impulses -- has the power to accomplish almost anything , if only its power could be properly harnessed . Her company InteraXon , which she co-founded with Trevor Coleman , has produced Muse , a lightweight headband that uses electroencephalography ( EEG ) sensors to monitor your brain activity , transmitting that information to a smartphone , laptop or tablet . The high-tech headband has been used to pour beer , levitate chairs , or control the lights -- all without the wearer lifting a finger . And in a world where technology is often blamed for raising stress levels , 35-year-old Garten believes her $ 300 headband could even help calm us down . The Canadian -- who has worked as a fashion designer , art gallery director , and psychotherapist -- spoke to CNN about her influences and vision for the future of technology . CNN : How does Muse help reduce stress ? Ariel Garten : Muse tracks your brain activity . Your brain sends electro-signals just like your heart does , and this headband is like a heart rate monitor . As it tracks your brain activity , it sends that information to your computer , smartphone or tablet , where you can do exercises that track your brain activity in real time , and give you real time feedback to teach you how to calm and settle your mind . CNN : Technology is often blamed for making people stressed -- is there a certain irony in also using it to also calm us down ? AG : Technology can definitely be responsible for making people stressed because it pulls at our attention , it distracts us , it increases the number of demands and in some ways decreases our own agency . We 're very interested in inverting that on its head and creating solutions that help you calm yourself ; that can help you stay grounded , choose what to focus your attention on , and manage your own mind and your response to the world . Technology itself is not the evil , it 's the way that it 's implemented . Technology can have some great solutions for us . Look at all the amazing medical interventions that we have . CNN : You 've suggested Muse could provide medical benefits for children with ADD -- how ? AG : To be clear , Muse is not a medical device , it 's a computer product . Exercises using Muse have suggested that they can help people with ADHD , by helping you increase your state of focused attention . We 've had amazing emails -- just recently we had an email from somebody who is 29 years old with ADHD and after just two days of using Muse had noticed a benefit . Three weeks out they sent me an email saying 'this is not a game changer , this is a life changer . ' CNN : Have you had interest in the product from any unexpected places ? AG : We 've been contacted by a lot of sports stars and sports celebrities -- people wanting to use it to improve their sports game . We were surprised because we 're so used to thinking of it as a cognitive tool . There 's been quite a number of research labs using Muse , and they 've been looking at applications in depression , epilepsy , and communications . And then we 've also had a lot of interest from companies interested in integrating our technology into their wellness and development programs . Companies like Google wanting to offer this to their employees to help improve their productivity and their wellness . CNN : Do you have any reservations about the development of mind-mapping devices ? AG : In InteraXon we believe very strongly that you own all your own data . We have a very strict privacy policy . It 's like a heart rate monitor , it 's very binary so we ca n't read your thoughts , we ca n't read your mind . But we 're very much into leading the way on the very responsible use of this technology . CNN : What inspired you to get involved in this area ? AG : My background is in neuroscience , design and psychotherapy , and I 'm very interested in helping people understand their own minds and use their minds more productively in their own life . Our brains get in our way in so many ways . The things that we think , the feelings that we have , all of these things can be beautiful supports to our life and encourage the lives that we live . But they can also cause all kinds of anxiety , worries , all of these things that hold us back . Particularly women are a huge inspiration to me because we 're so good at holding ourselves back with the thoughts that are in our heads . We 're constantly worried about things like 'does this person think this way about me ? ' or 'have I done well enough ? ' or 'have I achieved as much as I 'm supposed to ? ' We have these dialogues within ourselves that can be really debilitating , and you know the answer is 'of course you 're good enough , ' and 'of course you 've done well enough , ' and 'of course you can achieve that . ' And if you can learn to understand and gain control over your own internal dialogue , you can really learn to sort of undo the shackles that hold you back in your daily life , and your career , and your relationships . Inspire : Nanny 's double life as photographer . Learn : Frida Kahlo : Queen of the selfie .
Ariel Garten 's high-tech headband monitors brain activity . Called 'Muse , ' the device transmits information to your computer . The data is then analyzed and displayed on a screen in real time. By tracking brain waves , could help users reduce stress .