London-based doppel is bringing a new generation of its wearable device to the United States, to help users stay alert or calm down, naturally, in real-time. Unlike fitness tracking wearable devices, the doppel wristband can literally change your mood using your body’s natural response to rhythm.
Here’s how it works:
- doppel sits on the inside of your wrist and is synced with a companion app. The device emits a vibration that feels like a heartbeat.
- You tap or stroke the device to regulate the rhythm — a faster one makes you feel more alert while a slower one calms you down. And the app stores your personal preferences.
- Your brain responds naturally to the rhythm to alter your mood — similar to upbeat or downbeat music.
With doppel, the company claims, you use your own body to help rev up for that really long meeting, stay calm during an important presentation or wind down at the end of the day.
“We’ve all wanted or needed to change how we feel at some point,” Fotini Markopoulou, founder and CEO of doppel, said in a statement. “Perhaps you drink coffee to feel more alert and focused before arriving at work. Maybe you like the idea of meditation to feel calm, but have no idea when you’d find the time. We created doppel as a way to give you control, by tapping into something you have naturally — a mind/body connection — in a customized yet manageable way.”
The doppel wearable is already available in the UK where it has been independently tested and shown to double a user’s focus/alertness as well as significantly reduce stress in controlled scientific studies run by the Royal Holloway University London. In the U.S., it will be available this Spring.
According to research from Harvard Business School assistant professor of business administration Joel Goh, workplace stress costs the United States between $125 and $190 billion every year, representing 5 to 8 percent of national spending on healthcare.