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Been playing around with it. Results have been promising, if not compelling.
https://www.haloneuro.com/
https://www.haloneuro.com/
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Halo Neuroscience
- Thread starter martyg
- Start date
Along those lines, I have a lake for sale in the desert.
OK, maybe that's no so snarky because I actually do have a lake for sale in the desert. So I'm not bsing. At least you don't need a headset to buy my lake.
Eric
OK, maybe that's no so snarky because I actually do have a lake for sale in the desert. So I'm not bsing. At least you don't need a headset to buy my lake.
Eric
Thread Starter
TS
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So the founder of this is a neuro-surgeon. His FDA approved device is a brain implant, where the skull is actually breached for implant, for chronic epileptics to control chronic seizures. He saw what the invasive, FDA approved device does for epileptics, and wondered what could be done non-invasively.
Before they came to market the Halo team reproduced the existing studies on hyper neuroplasticity to validate. Then the did a double blind study on 1,000 participants - which is a huge sample group.
Interestingly enough, 8 of those initial participants where USST members. The Team was so impressed with results that they signed a one year exclusive with Halo. A few more progressive PhD level PT's are using with stroke survivors, with promising results.
Wasn't there a gamer study as well?
Sorry for the comments. I get skeptical when new words are invented to describe how things that seem like magic work. Results are the true measure. It seems like there is some effectiveness from this process. Cool.
Thanks for sharing and tolerating my skepticism.
Eric
Thanks for sharing and tolerating my skepticism.
Eric
Can you elaborate on "Promising, if not compelling"? What did you use if for? How are you measuring improvement or efficacy?
The thing that I was wondering about was, how do you prevent the problem of imperfect practice making things worse? Particularly in a sport like skiing where there isn't a direct measure or immediate feedback. I mean, if you play the piano notes incorrectly or miss the basket or the putt, you get immediate feedback. So many people in skiing need video or a coach to help them discover that what they think they're doing, they're not.
The thing that I was wondering about was, how do you prevent the problem of imperfect practice making things worse? Particularly in a sport like skiing where there isn't a direct measure or immediate feedback. I mean, if you play the piano notes incorrectly or miss the basket or the putt, you get immediate feedback. So many people in skiing need video or a coach to help them discover that what they think they're doing, they're not.
Thread Starter
TS
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Good question.
There is a particular sensation and awareness that I have wanted to capture this season. It doesn't matter what it is. If you pursue skiing as a craft and have qualified coaching you will have your TDL too.
Entering this season I have been thinking about that sensation, visualizing and doing dryland mimickery. Getting on snow for the first handful of days, the sensation was there, but fleeting maybe 50% of the time. When using Halo that sensation was present and repeatable with accuracy.
Of course, to have objective data would need a clone, and replicate several previous seasons to today. It is subjective. With a double blind study group of 1,000, commercial flight trainers making this technology available to students, and the US Military using it (I came out of JSOC), there is some validation.
As far as video and coaching.... I have two Yoda's. One is a former US Team member, and head coach. The other is a guy who is legendary in PSIA RM.
It is not a substitute for coaching, video analysis, etc. You need those elements to help you on your journey, otherwise you are in a place where you don't know what you don't know. However for that PSIA, L2, or L3 that is taking the next step, or the US development team person, I see real potential when building more efficient movement patterns.
In another domain I am high up the food chain in the coaching / instructional world. I'm looking forward to using this with my private clients, instructor trainer candidates, and athletes.
Enjoy.
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martyg, what is your affiliation with this?
Most of the "case studies" I read through their website, including those with TRX and USA Cycling, are actually press releases. Other "case studies" such as with UNC suffer from selection bias: These are groups that have radically transformed their training programs, so no results can be reliably attributed to this tool.
Research into the underlying technology, transcranial direct-current stimulation (TDCS), seems to show mixed results, with either no discernible effect or very slight improvement to cognitive tasks. And while there's a cognitive piece to skiing, I'd argue most seasoned non-racers have the cognitive (decision-making) part dialed in. It appears in my quick google search that studies have not been run extensively to verify the effectiveness of TDCS in psychomotor development*.
More importantly, since halo is a private company, there's no way to know if their implementation is simply flim-flammery and snake oil. And based on the stretched truth, reliance on technobabble, and hyperbolic claims on their website, I'm certainly not buying what they're selling.
My suggestion to people who want to improve is to train smarter. Work with your coach to establish goals and challenges. Do video analysis to understand your areas of opportunity. Review good media, like Total Skiing, Ultimate Skiing, the Projected Productions videos, etc. Train in the gym to develop your range of motion, strength, explosive power and endurance. Work with a sports psychologist to discover the barriers you have and move through them. Get well fitted boots and appropriate skis, and maintain them throughout the season. Review with your coaches and get feedback regularly in all these areas. Repeat.
I would bet my retirement savings that this type of approach will give better results than using these expensive tingly headphones. And while you could do both, certainly to me it seems foolish right now to spend $750 on this product. That money would likely be better spent on a season pass, or a good slalom ski, or intuition liners and boots, or lessons, or extra days on snow.
*In cases of depression, it appears that TDCS helped develop psychomotor skills. So if you're depressed and don't intend to treat depression (or treatment fails), one could hypothesize that you would improve your turns with a TDCS system. But again, that would be an untested hypothesis - and I'd suggest in such cases you probably have bigger things to worry about than your skiing performance! If you're depressed, get out on the slopes on a sunny day; soak up some vitamin D, breathe that clean mountain air and get your heart rate up. Exercise has been shown to reduce depression.
Most of the "case studies" I read through their website, including those with TRX and USA Cycling, are actually press releases. Other "case studies" such as with UNC suffer from selection bias: These are groups that have radically transformed their training programs, so no results can be reliably attributed to this tool.
Research into the underlying technology, transcranial direct-current stimulation (TDCS), seems to show mixed results, with either no discernible effect or very slight improvement to cognitive tasks. And while there's a cognitive piece to skiing, I'd argue most seasoned non-racers have the cognitive (decision-making) part dialed in. It appears in my quick google search that studies have not been run extensively to verify the effectiveness of TDCS in psychomotor development*.
More importantly, since halo is a private company, there's no way to know if their implementation is simply flim-flammery and snake oil. And based on the stretched truth, reliance on technobabble, and hyperbolic claims on their website, I'm certainly not buying what they're selling.
My suggestion to people who want to improve is to train smarter. Work with your coach to establish goals and challenges. Do video analysis to understand your areas of opportunity. Review good media, like Total Skiing, Ultimate Skiing, the Projected Productions videos, etc. Train in the gym to develop your range of motion, strength, explosive power and endurance. Work with a sports psychologist to discover the barriers you have and move through them. Get well fitted boots and appropriate skis, and maintain them throughout the season. Review with your coaches and get feedback regularly in all these areas. Repeat.
I would bet my retirement savings that this type of approach will give better results than using these expensive tingly headphones. And while you could do both, certainly to me it seems foolish right now to spend $750 on this product. That money would likely be better spent on a season pass, or a good slalom ski, or intuition liners and boots, or lessons, or extra days on snow.
*In cases of depression, it appears that TDCS helped develop psychomotor skills. So if you're depressed and don't intend to treat depression (or treatment fails), one could hypothesize that you would improve your turns with a TDCS system. But again, that would be an untested hypothesis - and I'd suggest in such cases you probably have bigger things to worry about than your skiing performance! If you're depressed, get out on the slopes on a sunny day; soak up some vitamin D, breathe that clean mountain air and get your heart rate up. Exercise has been shown to reduce depression.
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Agree with @DavidSkis, this seems sketchy.