Neuroergonomics is an emerging field dedicated to understanding how the human brain functions in everyday life, bridging the gap between traditional laboratory research and the complexity of real-world settings. Conventional neuroimaging approaches have yielded valuable insights but often constrain human behavior to simplified tasks in artificial environments. Recent advances in wearable neuroimaging technologies, particularly mobile electroencephalography and functional near-infrared spectroscopy recently, now empower researchers to capture neural activity as people engage in naturalistic tasks and contexts. These complementary measures of electrical activity and cortical oxygenation illuminate perceptual, cognitive, and motor processes that underlie human performance in dynamic, real-world situations. Drawing on examples from aerospace, medicine, and other domains, this presentation will highlight how neuroergonomic methods, and particularly mobile optical brain imaging, contribute to assessing mental workload, skill acquisition, and enhancing human-machine and human-human interactions (e.g., interpersonal neural synchronization and brain-computer interfaces). By exploring the “brain at work” outside the lab, neuroergonomics ushers in a new era of clinical and applied neuroscience, one that promises transformative solutions for improving safety, efficiency, and well-being across diverse settings and populations.