AWEAR calm – AWEAR, a small EEG wearable “dubbed a Fitbit for your brain,” promises a “calm score” based on brainwave patterns. In beta, it’s designed to help users recover from stress faster, paired with app-based nudges and breathing exercises. A reporter testing it foun
Sweat on your brow. Hands that feel slightly too warm. A brain that won’t stop scanning for danger.
Now imagine looking away from the moment and seeing a score instead.
That’s the pitch behind AWEAR. a small rectangular wearable that curls around your ear and uses EEG sensors to capture activity in your head. The device sends AI-powered insights to an app on your phone, including how often you are stressed, focused and calm. Its purpose is blunt: help train the brain to recover from stress faster. with the app offering users a “calm” score to keep themselves in check.
The stakes are personal, but the company frames them in medical terms. Chronic stress is linked to adverse health conditions including heart disease, stroke and early death.
Antonio Forenza, founder and CEO of AWEAR, says the app is built for real-time interruption, not just after-the-fact measurement. “Our customers tell us they use AWEAR as a nudge when they are stressed or overwhelmed. Our app reminds them with a soothing vibration that it’s time to take a break,” he said. “Then they use the calm score (to measure) the effect of their breathing exercise on their nervous system. getting positive reinforcement from the mobile app.”.
Forenza is a tech industry veteran and entrepreneur, and his research and development work began in 2023. He says he saw a gap in the wearables marketplace: stress tracking existed through heart-rate devices from companies like Oura and WHOOP. but he believed nothing was tracking mental wellness directly. AWEAR. he adds. is built by a team that includes neurology experts from Stanford University. the University of California San Francisco and from his native Italy.
The goal was to continuously track biomarkers in a discreet way—something users can wear in social settings and even mid-phone call—using the ear as the anchor point for measurement. AWEAR is currently in beta testing.
In the long term, the company says it wants to track brain health.
The reporter testing the device received it by mail. followed the setup steps. and charged it until a green. flashing light appeared. The device was connected to a phone via Bluetooth. Using a provided body wipe and swab. the reporter cleaned the back of the ear. attached the adhesive. placed the sensor behind the ear and waited for it to adjust. Several tries later, the app began tracking brain waves.
After the connection took, the score became hard to ignore. The reporter kept watching the app, trying to move from stressed to calm.
The tension wasn’t just psychological—it was practical. The app started tracking. and the reporter then tested the relationship between stress and the number. including during a work meeting. They searched “chronic stress” online, and later expected their score to worsen. When they glanced at it during the meeting, their metrics had improved.
In that moment, the reported effect wasn’t just “calm”—it was what came with not focusing on the score. Distractions, and not thinking about stress, made the reporter feel less stressed.
At one point, the reporter clocked a 100 calm score (out of 100). They said they don’t think they’ve ever been that calm in their life. Once they doubted the reading, the score dropped quickly to 92.
Across the first two days, the reporter’s experience swung. On day one, they were stressed more than calm. On day two, they were more calm than stressed. The reporter said they expected calibration to improve over time.
Forenza described that process directly. “Typically we ask our customers to wear it for 24 hours to get enough data to train/refine the (machine learning) models for their own brainwaves,” he said. “The initial model provides trends but is generic.”
Not every moment in the beta was smooth. The reporter said the adhesive wasn’t conducive to their level of sweat in hot weather, and they grew frustrated when the device failed to track them.
Forenza warned that the product was in beta for a reason, and the reporter said they’re looking forward to trying it when it’s ready for “primetime,” with a goal of avoiding looking at the score for awhile.
The promise here isn’t that a wearable replaces clinical care. The reporter was careful to separate the “heads-up” function from therapy. Could a device replace a therapist? Not exactly.
That separation is where the company’s founder keeps returning. Forenza says the tech shouldn’t replace a traditional therapist. but a device behind your ear giving you a heads up to take a deep breath might work as a complement. He used an image meant to sound familiar to anyone who’s ever found relief in talking through emotions. “Imagine you have your best therapist that knows all your emotions throughout your life. knows your biomarkers. and interact with you when you want. ” he said.
He added, “I think the shared experience, the shared consciousness that a therapist offers you, that’s irreplaceable. And there are people that disagree with me. I know I should agree with them. because I’m in technology. but I think there is something special about human empathy that will never be replaced.”.
The reporter echoed that limit from a lived perspective: their few hours likely didn’t do enough to know them well, and even so, they said they never want to pay that much close attention to an app about their brain again.
Even with the discomfort of measurement, the idea remains attractive as an add-on to therapy sessions. The reporter said it’s something people might use to keep stress levels in check.
Looking ahead, Forenza said the device will be even smaller, moving from a rectangle to a tiny circle. He also suggested the technology could eventually expand beyond stress monitoring. Perhaps someday, it could warn someone they are going to have a seizure, that they’re depressed or burnt out.
A timeline is already on the table: Forenza said the company hopes to officially launch next year.
Before any of that, the beta work continues, and the central question stays simple—almost impossible to ignore once you see a number for your mind: if stress can be tracked, can it also be interrupted?
AWEAR EEG wearable calm score stress tracking Antonio Forenza machine learning models brain health wearable technology mental wellness beta testing therapy United States