Meet the gaming headset that "overclocks" your brain by electrocuting it

Yes, that headline is correct.

The $249 Foc.us is being advertised as a tDCS [transcranial Direct Current Stimulation] headset for gamers” that allows users to overclock your brain to increase the plasticity”.

The result? Allegedly a user’s synapses fire faster”. Or in other words – Faster Processor, Faster Graphics, Faster Brain!” Amazingly, the Foc.us also comes with an iOS app meaning the headset can be controlled manually using the touch sensor”.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the company says the headset is not a medical device and is not regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration” and that the device meets all regulated safety standards but warns against its use by epilepsy sufferers or anyone with implants”.

Does anyone else find this as utterly terrifying as MCV does?

The University of New South Wales’ Professor Colleen Loo certainly has some reservations.

”It’s a bit like having an accelerator and brake in a car,” she explained. ”Neither is bad and both are very useful but applying them judiciously at the right time and in the right context is absolutely essential. I think stimulation of yourself with do-it-yourself kits is potentially quite dangerous.

”Even with a single session, I am concerned about people doing some mischief to themselves… if you did this while playing a game and then you went out and drove a car and had an accident, did it affect your reaction time, your co-ordination?”