Case study · EEG & biofeedback hardware
A decade of clinical-grade EEG hardware, built end to end by DSM.
Vilistus is an 8-channel EEG and HRV biofeedback system used by practitioners, coaches, and researchers worldwide. DSM designed the hardware, wrote the software, built the site — and we still maintain all of it, ten years on.
The problem
Biofeedback equipment was expensive, and too often unreliable.
Vilistus was founded by Nigel Walker and Stephen Clark out of a simple frustration: clinical-grade biofeedback equipment was both prohibitively expensive and, too often, unreliable. Practitioners, coaches, and researchers were stuck choosing between hospital-grade systems few could afford, or cheaper alternatives that couldn't be trusted for real training and research work.
What DSM built
Every piece — hardware, firmware, software, and the site.
DSM didn't just contribute a component — we designed and built Vilistus end to end. Ten years later, we're still the team maintaining it. That full-stack ownership is what let Vilistus become a genuinely expandable, modular system rather than a fixed device.
The physical hardware is manufactured by Tintro, Nigel Walker's precision electronics manufacturer in Cumbria — the same team DSM later worked with on our Ultra BLS device.
The technical detail
Modular hardware, an open protocol, and software that grew with it.
8-channel EEG core
Expandable to HRV (ear-lobe or finger clip), galvanic skin response, and respiration sensing as a practitioner's needs grow, without replacing the core hardware.
Multi-user capable
Up to four people can train simultaneously with no signal loss — unusual for hardware at this price point.
Vilistus/Pro software
The included desktop application — no separate license fee, lifetime updates, running on both Windows and Linux.
fadeBack
A translucent biofeedback overlay that layers over any video, game, audio, or document, so feedback happens without leaving whatever the client is already doing.
VilistusBLS
Bilateral stimulation (EMDR) software built on the same platform — the same underlying engineering that led to DSM's later Ultra BLS work for PTSD therapy.
Open, documented protocol
Built on the P3 protocol with published USB serial drivers — a deliberately open approach that's rare in this category, where most manufacturers keep their protocol closed.
The outcome
Over 1,000 systems sold. Still in active use ten years on.
Vilistus is the EEG system of choice for organizations including Alphalearning International and Awakened Mind LLC — practitioners and institutes who depend on it for real client and research work, not just demonstrations.
Why this matters
Proof of what DSM does end to end.
Vilistus is the clearest proof of what DSM does end to end: not just software wrapped around someone else's sensor, but hardware, firmware, software, and platform, designed together and supported for over a decade. If you're evaluating who can actually take an EEG or biofeedback product from concept to a device real practitioners rely on for ten years, this is the track record.
Let's talk
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