Valkee – Finnish Gadget Combats Seasonal Depression!

Seasonal Affective Disorder, otherwise known as SAD, is essentially winter depression. As it’s caused by the lack of sunlight you can imagine that it is especially prominent in the Arctic latitudes. This is because they do not get much sun during the winter months, this lack of sun has the potential to cause chemical reactions in the brain affecting our mood. Thus the Finnish company Valkee decided to come up with an innovative solution. It comes in the form of headphones that not only play music as one would expect, but also transmit varying amounts of light through the auditory canals of the ear. This light reaches certain parts of the brain that react to light, thereby helping avoid SAD.

Valkee has finished clinical tests with the University of Oulu and ODL Terveys. The results are very positive according to the company, not only completely eliminating the depression of the test subject but also boosting his intellectual capacity.The gadget will hit stores in February and will cost in the regions of €200. It seems to be a very competitive alternative to the well established Philips Energy Light line of products, even though it is on average slightly more expensive. That said, it is essentially two products in one; headphones and anti-depressant – what a combo!