Out in the Open: The Men Supercharging Neuroscience With Open Source Hardware

The first Open Ephys projects include components for recording electrical signals in mice brains, and a software interface for collecting data. Unlike something like the open source brain scanning tool Open BCI, the Open Ephys tools are aimed at neuroscience researchers, not at engineers and game developers. Nonetheless, in building these contraptions, Siegle and Voights have turned to many of the same tools used by other hardware hackers across the country, including the open source circuit board called the Arduino. “We like Arduinos because lots of people know how to use them, and they’re easy to get your hands on,” Siegle says.