Connection problems

[DanielFM13]

I've been having some connection problems between my Muse 2 and MindMonitor.

In the beginning, all works fine. All the sensors in the horseshoe are colored. However, after approximately 2 minutes, it stops working. In the horseshoe, there is only a black border on the top.

Every other aspect of the app seems to work correctly (accelerometer, gyroscope...).

I've tried cleaning the headband with alcohol, but it doesn't work.

Any idea in what is happening, and how can I solve it? Sorry for the bad English.

[James]

An empty black ring on the Horseshoe Indicator means the headband is not being detected as being on your head.

This happens when the center front three sensors are not in good contact with the head. If you are getting data on the RAW EEG channels then the very center sensor pad is making contact, but the two on either side of it are not.

If you are 100% sure these are in contact with your head, then you have oxidization build up and will need to scrub the connectors clean. sometimes this needs to be quite vigorous.

[DanielFM13]

Thank you so much for your response.

Effectively, I get RAW EGG data. Here you have some photos of my headband, maybe it can help to confirm that's the problem:

[James]

Looks ok to me. Maybe the pads are just not making good contact? Get a friend to look at the band from above while you're wearing it and check the contact is good. The other thing you can do is use some cotton wool as springs to increase the pressure slightyly.

[DanielFM13]

I will try the cotton wool one, but in general, the pads are making good contact.

It's weird because it works fine for 2 minutes, and then it stops working, even when I make no movements.

[willau1]

Hi I too am having trouble with connecting using the muse S head band the green oval and pink oval of the horseshoe won’t connect fully intermediate on an off with the pink one which I believe is top of right ear sensor only ever being an outline no matter what I try to get it to connect, however if I close the mind monitor app and open the muse app and select mind meditate it connects with all signals including the heart one. Is there some setting I need to change? Any help would be appreciated thanks.

[James]

Bear in mind that the Muse calm app is designed to give you a relaxed meditation experience. They can still calculate your relaxation state without all the sensors in full contact. It would not be very relaxing if during a meditation it flashed up and told you to adjust your headband. You can test this by slipping a bit of paper in-between a sensor during a session and note that it doesn't do much.
Mind Monitor on the other hand is designed purely from a data stand point, so if you have a bad connection, you will know right away. If the horseshoe says a sensor is not fully connected, then a sensor is not fully connected, sorry! For more info on your connection state, switch to the RAW EEG view and what you want are thin crisp lines with as little variance from min to max as possible, with only large spikes when you blink.

[willau1]

So correct me if I am wrong, but if my muse headband cannot connect to all the sensors shown by the horseshoe animation in the mind monitor app and assumably others with a muse s headband can connect properly, its highly probable my muse head band has a number of faulty sensors, correct?

[James]

Yes, but it's much more likely that you just have some dry skin, or dirt on the sensor strip that needs cleaning.

Test the electronics with the band flat on a table. Open the RAW EEG view.
Put a finger (or two) on the center and one off the off center pads, then press another finger onto the sensor you want to test. You should be able to get it to show a stable voltage.
Breathe hot breath on your finger to moisten it a little bit and apply firm pressure.
This will let you test if the sensor pad is working correctly. If you use your thumb, you can often make out your heartbeat in the signal, which is cool