ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Nathan will be at Open Sauce 2026 July 18 & 19th with his Open tDCS: https://github.com/nathanfu88/opentdcs! Academics currently face massive friction when researching transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)—everyone uses different parameters, leading to conflicting conclusions and disorganized data. Open source science needs a standard baseline, and that's exactly what we're trying to build.
This weekend, Nathan is exhibiting at Open Sauce 2026 in San Mateo to showcase the "Clockwork Orange" tDCS helmet. While the original plan was to have the device live and active for testing, safety reasons have pivoted the demonstration to a purely presentable show-and-tell. The ultimate goal of this open-source hardware and software package is to digitize the workflow, take the mental load off experimentation design, and give researchers a stable platform they can actually trust.
Listen in to hear about the final hours of chaotic weekend preparation, why the device is staying offline for now, and the broader vision for open-source science. Catch Nathan on the convention floor this weekend, and make sure you're subscribed to hear next week’s breakdown of the hardware problems we encountered and overcame. Learn more or attend Open Sauce 2026: https://www.opensauce.com/ Listen to the full episode: https://3reate.com/podcast/why-ai-data-centers-arent-the-real-problem/ Time stamps: (00:00) Nathan’s Open Sauce exhibition plans
(00:20) Showcasing the Clockwork Orange helmet
(00:44) Safety limits on active demonstration
(01:06) Building standard open-source science platforms
(01:50) Digitizing hardware for experimentation design
(02:05) Weekend preparations and closing thoughts
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2SW9L5Zxl_4?si=f7-Jj00C7ivHBNjt
Our pervious clip on the "why" behind Open tCDS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot3yxeiDsQs
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