• by Les Luchter , Staff Writer, Yesterday

I spent over a week trying to get my head around Atlas, a “brain wearable device” worn behind the ear, which the launch press release said can “map your brain and master your mind.”

Sounds scary, I thought, until reading that Atlas “helps people identify the patterns, people and habits that drive peak performance.”

“Imagine a world where data from your own mind helps you redefine what truly matters,” the release continued. “Atlas enables you to discover what brings out the best in you everyday, and enables you to become more of that person to optimize your life.”

How does this work? “Unlike traditional wearables monitoring heart rate steps, calories, pace and sleep,” the release noted, Atlas “utilizes proprietary motion-resilient non-implantable EEG to record electrical brain activity while the person moves, speaks and lives.”

More specifically, Atlas monitors three key states: “presence (where is my mind?), stress (how much psychological pressure am I under?) and energy burn (how hard is my brain working), revealing how they change throughout the day to signal meaningful shifts as they happen."

My own brain, though, still couldn’t process how I would actually put all this info to use if I wore Atlas.

Maybe the brand’s marketing could help!

So I watched the debut video put together by CCO Philippa Price, who joined the startup full-time after garnering a huge reputation producing music and fashion work for such clients as Apple Music, Katy Perry, Rhianna and Playboy.

The 45-second video features a kids’ chorus singing “If I Only Had a Brain” from “The Wizard of Oz,” while visuals show a wide range of people of all ages engaging in many different activities -- everything from kissing while skydiving, to dancing, to looking at a goldfish.

The final graphics: “You have a brain. Now use it. Atlas helps you see it. A new generation of brain wearable.”

Not knowing there was ever an “old generation” of brain wearable, I was at least enjoying myself now -- although I wished I could stop singing that song!

I went back to the press release: “At a moment when ‘artificial intelligence’ dominates the global conversation, I wanted our first film to offer a simple but powerful reminder of the extraordinary intelligence we’ve carried with us all along,” Price stated. “The next frontier isn’t somewhere out there. It’s already within us.”

All of which sounded pretty cool. But I still had no idea how the device could actually help me.

I next checked out Engadget’s coverage of the Atlas launch, locking in on one of the few comments: “So it doesn't actually do anything. It's just an expensive mood ring." 

Could this be true?

For an opposing view, I asked Atlas to provide me with an example showing how wearers could use the info Atlas provides to better their lives.

The answer: “A person wearing the device notices that they tend to feel less stressed on days when they finish their morning workout with cardio. But it doesn't happen every time, so they're not sure if there's actually a connection. With The Atlas 1.0, they discover it's not just about doing cardio, it's about doing it hard enough: when their strength training is followed by cardio that pushes their heart rate into Zone 2 (roughly 140 bpm or higher), it consistently buffers them against stress throughout the day. Below that threshold, the effect disappears.”

And what kind of user is being targeted by the company?

“Anyone who wants more agency over how they feel, think, and show up,” I was told. “You do not need to be an athlete, meditator, scientist, or biohacker. You only need to be curious about why you feel sharp one day and drained the next, calm in one setting. and overwhelmed in another.”

If that’s you, the device has gone on pre-sale online for $499, plus a $29.99/month membership fee. Shipping is expected in Q1 2027.