horse shoe indicator is empty

benislocated
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Joined: Sun Oct 13, 2019 8:34 am

horse shoe indicator is empty

Post by benislocated »

I have a Muse 2 headset that connects in the official Muse app but shows no HSI status in Muse Monitor

The raw signals in Muse Monitor appear to be decent, but the Absolute values (from which the default CSV is generated) do not register

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James
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Re: horse shoe indicator is empty

Post by James »

Clean the front center sensors. Interaxon recommend using rubbing alcohol.
These are the ones which detect if the Muse is on your head. If they're not registering, then the Interaxon API's don't calculate any values.
benislocated
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Re: horse shoe indicator is empty

Post by benislocated »

Thanks.

I had tried wiping my forehead and the sensors with water; I didn't try rubbing alcohol. I'll give that a try next time.
MorphoV
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Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2020 10:52 am

Re: horse shoe indicator is empty

Post by MorphoV »

Hi,
I just bought the app to find out I have the same issue: horse shoe is empty, battery indicator too. It's working perfectly on Interaxon's app, so cleaning the muse with alcohol didn't solve the problem.
As my phone is unsupported (LG G6) I had to use my old LG G2.

What should I do?
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James
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Re: horse shoe indicator is empty

Post by James »

The Interaxon Calm app will pretty much never tell you you have a bad signal. Their app is designed for meditation and if it bleeped and warned you every time there was a signal drop, it would totally spoil the relaxation experience! You can test this by slipping a bit of paper in-between one sensor during a session and nothing will happen. I'm guessing that when they loose data on one sensor they just go with whatever data they have from the others. Mind Monitor on the other hand is all about the data! So the second your connection is sub-optimal, it'll tell you :-)

I've heard from many many people about horse shoe indicator issues and every single time over the past 5 years of me doing support for Mind Monitor, it's always been fixed with changing the position of the Muse on the head and/or cleaning the sensors.

Switch over to the RAW EEG view; This one - https://mind-monitor.com/img/mm-screen-3.jpg

What you want to get here are thin crisp lines, with large spikes when you blink or move your eyes quickly.

In the example picture here you can see how TP9 is more "fuzzy" than the rest, this means the connection is not so good. It's ok, but it could be better! ;-)

Interaxon advertise the Muse as having dry sensors, but in reality they still rely on a thin film of sweat to conduct the electric signal from your skin. To help with the connection I would recommend that you dip your finger in some clean water, then rub the sensors before putting it on. After about a minute the water will have evaporated, and the sweat connection will be in place. It also helps to gently scrub your skin clean before putting on the Muse, to get the best connection. Dry skin flakes, makeup/foundation or dirt will block the signal. Also tie back your hair to make sure the ear connections are not blocked.

If you have a Muse 2, you may find it difficult to get a good signal on AF7 (right front). This is because Interaxon put the PPG (heart/breath) sensor here, and the hard plastic of the sensor stops the flexible sensor strip from flexing, there's not much you can do about it except for tightening the Muse. I've heard that the first release of Muse 2 has this problem worse than later ones, so maybe customer support will swap it out if you have a really bad connection on AF7.
MorphoV
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Re: horse shoe indicator is empty

Post by MorphoV »

Thanks for your reply James,
The RAW EEG is looking as you describe, but the horseshoe is blank, same as the Delta, Theta, Alpha... curves... maybe my brain is just dead after all :-)

I have the Muse not Muse 2. I bought that one because I've read on that forum that's the one you recommend.

Also, if it was only a contact issue, the battery indicator would work, right?
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James
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Re: horse shoe indicator is empty

Post by James »

If the RAW EEG looks good, but the HSI still has an empty black ring on the top then that means 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.

In colder weather this is usually because of dry skin, which prevents a good electrical connection. Try cleaning your forehead with a damp cloth before putting on the Muse. This will gently exfoliate the skin and the moisture from the cloth will also help make the electrical connection.

The other reason could be the sensor strip itself. If it is dirty or has oxidization marks, Interaxon recommend cleaning with rubbing alcohol:
https://choosemuse.force.com/s/article/ ... e-headband

Lastly, the sensor strip has a built in spring in the very middle to push the strip on your head. Get a friend to look down from above. You may find that the center pad is getting pushed against the head, but the ones just to the left and right are not. If this is the case, you probably need to tighten the band so it's pulled tighter using your ears to tension it. You could also try using cotton wool as side springs to add some extra push, but be careful not to get it in the way of the sensor pad itself.
MorphoV
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Re: horse shoe indicator is empty

Post by MorphoV »

Yes, I did all of that before posting here.
What about the battery level not showing either?
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James
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Re: horse shoe indicator is empty

Post by James »

Do you have another person in the house who can try on the headband as a test?

You can turn on "Show Battery" in settings. If the option is turned off, then the battery indicator will only show up if the battery level is below 5%.
The Muse only sends battery information every 10 seconds, so it can take up to 10 seconds for it to show up once enabled.
MorphoV
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Re: horse shoe indicator is empty

Post by MorphoV »

Of course the "Show Battery" setting is on. The battery icon is visible, but its charge level and percentage are missing.

The horse shoe indicators were also missing when my wife tried the Muse on, so I installed your app on her old Samsung S4 and it's working perfectly, so I guess there is a bug that only concerns LG G2.
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