By Alay Shah

Oculo helps you see how and when your brain works best. We’re not a sleep app. We’re not a meditation app. We’re not a mind game app. We’re building the first brain health app that gives users objective, quantified insights about how to maximize their mental wellbeing and productivity. But why?

The mission of Oculo is to solve the silent burnout crisis. For the last decade, high-stress lifestyles have been prioritized at the expense of personal well-being, resulting in exhausted bodies and brains. Almost half of American office workers feel burned out at work. More than this, about 33% of Americans experience chronic stress, with effects like anxiety, depression, and anger. Most people don’t even realize the magnitude of the crisis we’re facing here. Here are a few quick facts:

• Workplace stress contributes to 120,000 deaths a year and $190 billion in healthcare costs, according to a 2016 study.
• Burnout is associated with cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, fatigue, respiratory issues, and death before the age of 45 — based on PLoS One research
• Burned-out employees are 63% more likely to take a sick day as found by a Gallup Survey
• 91% of working professionals reported unmanageable stress affecting their quality of work, and 83% felt it affected their relationships as well — source

It’s clear that the burnout crisis is not only a problem for the well-being of workers, but also for the general productivity and efficiency of the companies that employ them. We’ve effectively hit a wall with how to approach the problem though, since Burnout has never been a metric we can monitor.

That’s where we come in.

After 4 years of clinical and AI research, we’ve built algorithms and tools that quantify mental fatigue, allowing us to track what factors contribute to burnout and understand how we can elevate our health and productivity. Our platform works off decades of research done in eye-tracking and sleep science, including our own research featured by the Human Brain Project. We wholeheartedly believe that the solution to brain aging and long-term well-being starts at the individual level. That’s why we’ve focused our time on translating cutting-edge research into a mobile platform that allows anyone to take control of their brain health.

Right now, we’re in beta mode, working up to our launch early next year (join our waitlist here). Soon, Oculo will empower millions to identify their Burn, fix their sleep, and understand the times and factors that optimize their productivity.

Oculo’s not just bringing you back to normal, we’re building you a better brain.