NEUREAL and Academician Bao Gang’s Team at Zhejiang University Sign Agreement to Co-Develop Neryx, a Multimodal BCI Algorithm Model
Hangzhou-based neurotechnology company combines applied mathematics with more than a decade of experience in non-invasive BCI engineering to advance adaptive, emotion-aware digital interventions for mental health.
HANGZHOU, China — October 19, 2026 — NEUREAL (Hangzhou Xuzhishi Technology Co., Ltd.) and Zhejiang University’s Academy of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies signed a collaboration agreement to jointly develop Neryx, a multimodal brain-computer interface (BCI) algorithm model. Academician Bao Gang, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Mathematical Sciences at Zhejiang University, and Kang Cheng, Founder and CEO of NEUREAL, attended the signing ceremony.
The partnership brings together three rapidly developing fields: brain-computer interfaces, mathematical modeling, and virtual reality. The two parties will conduct joint research in multimodal data mining, quantitative emotion analysis, emotion-classification algorithm training, VR rehabilitation interaction modeling, and adaptive parameter optimization. Their shared goal is to translate algorithm research into practical applications that support everyday mental well-being through BCI technology.
Representatives of Zhejiang University and NEUREAL hold the signed agreement for the Neryx project.
A Global Race for the Next Mental-Health Infrastructure
Mental health is now a worldwide systemic challenge. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly one billion people globally live with a mental disorder, while demand for diagnosis and intervention far outpaces the supply of clinicians in nearly every market. At the same time, the global brain-computer interface industry is entering a commercial inflection point: major economies — including China, the United States and the European Union — have rolled out national initiatives to accelerate BCI from laboratory research into regulated, scalable products.
In China, seven government departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, issued the Implementation Opinions on Promoting Innovative Development of the Brain-Computer Interface Industry, identifying BCI as a strategic future industry. The NEUREAL–Zhejiang University agreement responds to this broader context and addresses a question facing the industry: how can brain sensing become a reliable, individualized foundation for digital mental health at a global scale?
Targeting the Hard Problem: Sensing Inner States, Personalizing Intervention
Emotional states are shaped by a tangled mix of physiology, cognition and behavior. Accurately sensing how a user feels in real time — and letting interventions adjust dynamically to that state — remains the defining technical challenge for BCI and digital therapeutics alike. This collaboration is built around exactly that problem.
Using VR-based emotion-elicitation and interactive scenarios, the project will collect multimodal physiological signals, including electroencephalography (EEG) and photoplethysmography (PPG), alongside behavioral data. The research will examine associations between physiological patterns and states such as anxiety, low mood, and emotional volatility.
At the core of the research is Neryx, a BCI algorithm model that the two parties will co-develop. Neryx is designed to transform complex, noisy brain signals into interpretable, actionable state information. The model assesses a user’s emotional state, attention level, and cognitive load, and feeds this information back into training and interaction design, allowing VR tasks to adapt their difficulty, pacing, and feedback to the user’s current state. The project aims to address an industry-wide challenge: inner states are difficult to monitor continuously, and interactive systems rarely adapt to individual users.
Around Neryx, the partners will continue iterative algorithm research and scenario validation, exploring applications in cognitive training, virtual reality and intelligent human-machine interaction. The project will advance in phases according to an overall research roadmap, providing the foundation for subsequent optimization and deployment.
How Neryx works: VR tasks and multimodal brain signals feed the model, which assesses user state and informs adaptive behavior and decision-making.
Strengthening Neryx with Expertise in Applied Mathematics
Academician Bao Gang is an internationally recognized scholar in mathematical physics and inverse problems. He is an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a Foreign Member of Academia Europaea, and a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). He currently serves as Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Mathematical Sciences and Chair of the Division of Science at Zhejiang University, and is President of the China Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (CSIAM). His long-standing research spans applied and computational mathematics and inverse problems in mathematical physics; he has been an invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), received China's Second Prize of the National Natural Science Award, and has been listed among the world's Highly Cited Researchers for multiple consecutive years.
Mathematical modeling and inverse-problem theory provide useful methods for complex signal analysis and multimodal feature extraction, both of which can contribute to the development of brain-sensing systems. The collaboration with Academician Bao Gang’s team provides the Neryx project with academic support in algorithm development and model construction, beyond application-layer integration alone.
Under the agreement, Zhejiang University will contribute its academic strengths in applied mathematics and algorithm research, while NEUREAL brings its accumulated expertise in BCI data acquisition, VR rehabilitation interaction, and scenario deployment. By coupling multimodal data analysis with interactive-system modeling, the two parties aim to clarify the relationships among emotion-state features, rehabilitation task parameters and training feedback — producing a firmer technical basis for next-generation algorithm optimization and product iteration.
Academician Bao Gang addresses the signing ceremony.
From Research to Real-World Applications
NEUREAL focuses on non-invasive brain-computer interface technology, with R&D centered on decoding emotion and cognition. For more than a decade, the company has explored the convergence of artificial intelligence, BCI, virtual reality, and digital intervention. Over the past five years, it has accelerated product development and deployment across three settings: clinical applications in hospitals, psychological support for the general population, and at-home brain health. Its products are in use at nearly 1,000 institutions across China, and selected products and services have also been deployed at medical institutions overseas.
As application scenarios expand, the company sees a key challenge ahead: the stability and generalizability of algorithm models, together with clinical validation, are among the key factors in scaling BCI-enabled digital health beyond early adopters. This challenge is relevant to regulators, clinicians, and investors across major markets.
For BCI technology to move from the laboratory into everyday use, signal acquisition and engineering alone are not enough. Progress also depends on advances in algorithm models, data accumulation, outcome validation, and scenario fit. The collaboration with Academician Bao Gang’s team at Zhejiang University is intended to strengthen NEUREAL’s capabilities in algorithm development and data analysis, while helping connect research findings with real-world user needs.
Looking Ahead
Following the signing of this agreement, the two parties will continue advancing algorithm research, model training, and scenario validation. They will also explore compliance pathways, including algorithm filing, compliant model deployment, and relevant medical-device registration. Project milestones remain subject to research outcomes and applicable regulatory requirements. NEUREAL will continue to deepen industry–academia–research collaboration with universities and research institutes, combining real-world application scenarios with academic expertise to better connect fundamental research, technology development, and industrial adoption, and to contribute to the development of brain-computer interface technology and mental-health services worldwide.
Kang Cheng, Founder and CEO of NEUREAL, speaks at the signing ceremony.
About NEUREAL
NEUREAL (Hangzhou Xuzhishi Technology Co., Ltd.) is a Hangzhou-based neurotechnology company specializing in non-invasive brain-computer interfaces, virtual reality, and digital intervention. Guided by its mission — “Decoding emotion and cognition to improve brain health” — NEUREAL’s products and services support clinical, consumer, and home-based brain-health applications, with deployments at nearly 1,000 institutions across China and selected medical institutions overseas. Website: www.xuzhishi.com
About Zhejiang University — Academy of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies
Zhejiang University’s Academy of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies focuses on applied mathematics, computational science, and interdisciplinary research. Research areas include inverse problems in mathematical physics and their applications to complex data and signal analysis, with Academician Bao Gang’s team contributing expertise in these fields.
Media Contact:Kim, XuZhiShi(NEUREAL) — WangJinBiao@xuzhishi.com
Note: This release contains forward-looking statements about research plans and regulatory pathways. Actual progress and outcomes are subject to research results and applicable laws and regulations.