Beat Stress with Breakthrough Wearable Technology

Heart Rate Variability Linked to Stress

Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. David Rabin has been studying the impact of chronic stress and how people adapt to it, often called resilience, for more than a decade. 

One important aspect of resilience is its connection to heart rate variability (HRV) -- the rate of change of the heartbeat over time. If someone's resting heartbeat is 60 per minute, this won't be exactly one beat a second. Sometimes it will be slightly more, at other times slightly less. The timing is controlled by the brain's hypothalamus which -- reacting to stimuli via the autonomic nervous system (ANS) -- sends signals to stimulate or relax the heart rate as required. 

Heart rate variability identifies imbalances in the ANS. In a state of stress, HRV is low, demonstrating less ability to switch gears and adapt. A person with a low HRV has a greater chance of developing physical and mental health problems and is less able to recover from them once they occur. 

 

In a healthy state, the variation between beats is high, reflecting more flexibility, better adaptability to the environment, and greater resilience. Expert meditators will have an HRV of between 120 and 200 milliseconds. For people under chronic stress, it will be in the 20s to 40s range. The rest of us should aim for an HRV between 60 and 120. 

After five years of development, Dr. Rabin released a device called Apollo to help people dramatically improve their resilience. Worn around the wrist or ankle throughout the day, it delivers gentle vibrations that stimulate skin receptors to increase HRV and help people cope and perform better under stress. 

The frequencies used have been tested and proven in a high-quality trial conducted on 38 healthy participants at the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh. The trial showed that Apollo's vibrations can balance the ANS, enhancing focus, calm, and performance under stress. It has also been tested on over 2,000 volunteers. In another trial involving nurses, Apollo reduced stress scores by over 47 percent in just 14 days.

The Importance of Feeling Safe

Dr. Rabin's work with people struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and treatment-resistant mental illnesses led him to conclude that helping people feel safe is the single most important factor to facilitate recovery and healing. 

 

Patients who are resistant to medication or any type of therapy find it impossible to feel safe, so the software was initially created to help these difficult cases. Apollo succeeds in inducing a feeling of safety in the body. 

Preliminary results show the device has a great benefit in terms of symptom relief in such patients. They report it's like having someone hold their hand or give them a hug when they're having a bad day. In the lab, it takes about 3 minutes for heart rate, breathing, and brainwave patterns to improve. Different settings allow people to use Apollo to relax, have more focus, boost energy, elevate mood, or prepare for sleep. 

The effects typically last for 30 minutes to two hours after the vibration stops. In an interview, Dr. Rabin said, "Over time, what will happen is that the software will continue to learn about your body and the way that you interact with it to optimize the timing of delivery and the specific settings that you receive, so that it works better for you. 

 

"The more you use it, [the more] it grows with you and continues to teach you about how to be more mindful and how to be more present in your day-to-day life.

 

"So that over time, similarly to practicing yoga or similarly to practicing meditation, Apollo's effects seem to come on more quickly as you use it, and they last longer because the people's nervous system becomes tuned and practiced to the Apollo effect." 

Researchers are increasingly interested in wearable technology designed to monitor — and in some cases influence — stress, sleep, focus, and nervous system balance. 

These devices use different approaches, ranging from heart rate variability tracking to brainwave monitoring and vagus nerve stimulation. While many show promise, experts caution that most are still evolving technologies and should be viewed as supportive wellness tools rather than medical treatments. 

• Oura Ring — A smart ring that tracks sleep, heart rate variability (HRV), body temperature, and daytime stress patterns to help users monitor recovery and resilience. 
• WHOOP Strap — A wearable band focused on strain, recovery, sleep, and HRV monitoring, often used by athletes and biohackers to manage stress and optimize recovery. 
• Muse Headband — A brain-sensing EEG headband designed to provide meditation and neurofeedback training by measuring brainwave activity during relaxation exercises and sleep. 
• HeartMath Inner Balance — A biofeedback system that trains users to improve HRV and breathing patterns through guided exercises intended to promote emotional regulation and resilience. 
• Pulsetto — A wearable device designed to stimulate the vagus nerve, which researchers believe may influence stress response, relaxation, and nervous system regulation. 

Scientists say the most important takeaway may not be the devices themselves, but the growing recognition that stress leaves measurable fingerprints throughout the body — affecting heart rhythms, sleep quality, inflammation, focus, mood, and long-term health. 

Wearable technology may eventually help people better understand those patterns and develop healthier daily habits to support resilience and nervous system recovery.

Summary

A wearable device called Apollo Neuro was developed to help improve stress resilience by using gentle vibrations that stimulate the nervous system through the skin. Created by psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. David Rabin, the device aims to increase heart rate variability (HRV), which is strongly linked to resilience, adaptability, and stress recovery. Early studies suggest Apollo may help improve calmness, focus, sleep, mood, and stress management by helping the body feel safe and balanced.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Apollo Neuro?

Apollo Neuro is a wearable device designed to help reduce stress and improve resilience using gentle vibration patterns delivered through the skin.

What is heart rate variability (HRV)?

Heart rate variability measures the variation in time between heartbeats. Higher HRV is generally associated with better stress resilience, adaptability, and nervous system balance.

How does Apollo Neuro work?

The device sends subtle vibrations to touch receptors in the skin, which may help signal safety to the nervous system and improve autonomic balance.

Can Apollo Neuro help with sleep?

The device includes settings intended to promote relaxation and prepare the body for sleep, and some users report improvements in sleep quality.

Is there research behind Apollo Neuro?

According to the company and preliminary studies, the technology has been tested in laboratory settings and on volunteers to evaluate effects on stress, HRV, calmness, and focus.

References:

Evaluating the impact of Apollo Neuro™ wearable on wellbeing in medical and pharmacy students: A preliminary prospective randomized controlled study. Am J Med. 2025. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2024.11.024
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40816518/

Heart rate variability during mindful breathing meditation. Front Physiol. 2023;13:1017350. doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.1017350
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9899909/

Application of Noninvasive Vagal Nerve Stimulation to Stress-Related Psychiatric Disorders. J Pers Med. 2020;10(3):119. doi:10.3390/jpm10030119
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7563188/

Goessl VC, Curtiss JE, Hofmann SG. The effect of heart rate variability biofeedback training on stress and anxiety: a meta-analysis. Psychol Med. 2017;47(15):2578-2586. doi:10.1017/S0033291717001003
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28478782/

Inward-attention meditation increases parasympathetic activity: a study based on heart rate variability. Biomed Res. 2008;29(5):245-250. doi:10.2220/biomedres.29.245
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18997439/