When Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal appeared on Raj Shamani's popular podcast "Figuring Out," viewers noticed something unusual. A small, metallic device attached near his z sparked curiosity across social media platforms. What seemed like a simple accessory turned out to be something far more ambitious: Temple, an experimental brain health monitoring device that could reshape how we understand cognitive wellness.
What Exactly is Temple?
Temple represents a bold step into the intersection of neuroscience, wearable technology, and preventive healthcare. This compact, lightweight sensor is designed to be worn daily on the forehead, specifically near the temple region. Unlike fitness trackers that monitor steps or heart rate, Temple focuses on something more fundamental: real-time blood flow to the brain.
Developed under Eternal, the parent company of Zomato, and backed by Goyal's personal research initiative called Continue Research, Temple aims to provide continuous, accurate measurements of cerebral blood flow. This biological marker has long been recognized by scientists as crucial for understanding cognitive health, longevity, and the aging process.
Quick Facts: Deepinder Goyal has personally invested approximately $25 million (roughly ₹225 crore) into Continue Research to develop Temple and explore related brain health technologies. He has been testing the device himself for over a year.
How Does Temple Work?
While specific technical details remain proprietary, Goyal has described Temple as functioning somewhat like a miniaturized MRI scanner, though not in any clinical diagnostic capacity. The device utilizes advanced sensors combined with artificial intelligence to track blood circulation patterns in the brain throughout daily activities.
Traditional medical equipment can measure brain blood flow, but only during brief clinical visits under controlled conditions. Temple's innovation lies in its ability to collect this data continuously during normal life—while you work, exercise, sleep, or relax. This long-term monitoring could reveal patterns invisible to conventional testing methods.
Real-Time Monitoring
Tracks cerebral blood flow continuously throughout the day, providing insights into how different activities affect brain circulation.
Lightweight Design
Compact and discreet enough to wear during daily activities without disruption or discomfort.
AI-Powered Analysis
Uses artificial intelligence to interpret blood flow patterns and provide meaningful health insights.
Research Foundation
Built on two years of research and consultation with doctors and scientists worldwide.
The Science Behind Temple: Gravity Aging Hypothesis
Temple's development is closely connected to what Goyal calls the "Gravity Aging Hypothesis." This controversial theory suggests that Earth's gravity might play a direct role in human aging by affecting blood circulation to the brain over decades.
The hypothesis proposes that because humans spend most of their lives in upright positions, gravity constantly pulls blood downward and away from the brain. This reduced blood flow to critical brain regions like the hypothalamus and brainstem—which regulate breathing, heart rate, hormones, immunity, and body temperature—might contribute to accelerated aging.
Goyal points to interesting observations in nature: bats, for instance, are among the longest-living mammals relative to their size. Their inverted lifestyle, with heads below hearts, might explain their longevity. Similarly, practices like yoga inversions and handstands temporarily increase blood flow to the brain.
In his research, Goyal claims that six weeks of daily inversion table use (spending more than ten minutes upside down each day) resulted in a 7% baseline increase in average brain blood flow among test subjects. This potentially represents reversing nearly a decade of age-related decline in cerebral circulation.
Potential Applications and Benefits
If Temple proves effective and receives regulatory approval, its applications could be diverse and impactful across multiple demographics:
For Students and Professionals
Temple could help monitor focus, mental fatigue, and cognitive performance throughout the day. Students preparing for exams or professionals managing demanding workloads could optimize their schedules based on when their brain receives optimal blood flow.
For Athletes and Performers
Understanding how physical exertion affects brain circulation could help athletes optimize training regimens and recovery periods. Mental performance is as crucial as physical capability in competitive sports.
For Aging Population
Perhaps most importantly, Temple could serve as an early warning system for cognitive decline. Detecting changes in brain blood flow patterns years before symptoms appear might enable preventive interventions.
For Medical Research
Long-term data collected from thousands of users could provide unprecedented insights into how lifestyle factors, diet, exercise, stress, and sleep affect brain health across different populations.
⚠️ Medical Community Raises Concerns
Not everyone in the medical community is convinced. Dr. Suvrankar Datta, an AI researcher and radiologist from AIIMS Delhi, publicly criticized Temple, stating it has "zero scientific standing" as a useful medical device at present.
Dr. Datta warned people against spending money on unvalidated wearables, emphasizing that medical devices claiming to measure physiological parameters must undergo years of controlled testing, clinical trials, and regulatory scrutiny before being considered reliable.
Critics also note that while the Gravity Aging Hypothesis is interesting, aging is an extremely complex process influenced by genetics, cellular mechanisms, environmental factors, and lifestyle choices. Attributing it primarily to gravity represents a significant oversimplification.
Current Status and Future Outlook
Temple remains firmly in the experimental phase. It is not a commercial Zomato product and is not available for public purchase. The device is being developed privately under Eternal, with no confirmed launch date, pricing strategy, or regulatory approval pathway announced yet.
Goyal has been transparent about Temple's experimental nature, positioning it as a research tool aimed at pushing scientific boundaries rather than providing definitive medical answers. The official Temple website displays only a teaser message: "The future of health starts where no one's looking. Inside your brain."
The project represents a growing trend of wealthy entrepreneurs funding deep-tech research in areas like neuroscience, longevity, and cognitive wellness. While some view this as democratizing scientific exploration, others worry about bypassing traditional research validation processes.
What This Means for Health Tech
Temple signals a significant shift in Zomato's ecosystem beyond food delivery and logistics. Eternal's expansion into health technology and consumer hardware demonstrates ambition to participate in the rapidly growing wellness and longevity market.
More broadly, Temple represents the convergence of several emerging trends: wearable technology becoming more sophisticated, consumer interest in preventive healthcare growing, artificial intelligence enabling new types of health monitoring, and private funding accelerating experimental research that might not attract traditional institutional support.
The Road Ahead
Whether Temple becomes a revolutionary health monitoring tool or remains an expensive curiosity depends on rigorous scientific validation. The device faces significant challenges: proving its measurements are accurate and reliable, demonstrating clinical utility, navigating regulatory requirements, and convincing the medical community of its value.
However, Goyal's willingness to invest substantial personal resources and test the device publicly suggests genuine commitment to exploring uncharted territory in brain health monitoring. Even if the Gravity Aging Hypothesis proves incorrect, the underlying technology for continuous cerebral blood flow monitoring could still provide valuable insights for medical research and personal health tracking.
As wearable technology continues evolving and our understanding of brain health deepens, devices like Temple might eventually become as commonplace as fitness trackers. For now, it remains an intriguing experiment at the frontier of health technology innovation.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. Temple is an experimental device not yet approved for medical use. Always consult healthcare professionals for medical decisions.
