Frequently asked questions

Atlas directly measures four physical signals: electrical brain activity through EEG, head movement, skin conductance (how easily your skin passes electricity) and voice-induced vibrations of your skull. Presence, Stress and Energy Burn are not physical measurements themselves; they are interpretations derived from patterns in those signals using ATLAS' validated algorithms.

No. The brain is the most complex organ in your body and as you may imagine, it does not lend itself well to simple high-good/low-bad interpretations.

Think of our metrics like GPS coordinates: simply being in a certain place is neither good nor bad, it depends on where you want to be or where you are trying to get to.

For instance, your stress levels being high when you're in a relaxing, safe environment may be bad since it suggests that your body and mind are failing to adapt to the context around you. For some reason, you are not letting go and unwinding, even though everything tells you you're in a safe enough environment to do so.

However, the exact same signal of high stress while you're public speaking is entirely consistent with the context surrounding you. High stress there is likely good, your body and mind are adapting to the situation and mobilizing resources for action.

The useful question is not whether a score is high or low, good or bad, but whether your current state fits what you are trying to do.

Our product is here to help you answer this. To orient your inner life in relation to your outer one and successfully navigate the world of your mind. Hence the name Atlas.

No. Atlas does not read individual thoughts, decode memories or know the private meaning of what you are thinking. It identifies broader physiological patterns associated with changes in your mental state. For instance, it can tell whether you're stressed or relaxed, or whether your mind is engaged with the outside world or if you're in your head, reflecting or focusing on deep work. It can also tell when your mind is using a lot of energy and when it is exhausted and in need of some recovery.

Apart from these kinds of mental states, Atlas can also detect several daily life behaviours and patterns. For instance, when you're eating, if you're resting or going for a walk, or even when you're speaking.

In a controlled study, The Atlas 1.0 was benchmarked on volunteers against a $30,000 research-grade EEG. In real-world motion conditions such as walking and running, Atlas' data showed 20× higher signal quality than the research-grade system.

This has allowed ATLAS to collect the world's largest real-life brain activity dataset. While other brain devices are restricted to stationary situations like sleeping, meditating or coding, Atlas collects brain activity continuously while people walk, socialize, drive, speak, exercise, eat, use their phone, and do all the other things we do in the course of living our lives. We have more than half a million recordings of the human brain in the most diverse situations.

For Atlas, real-life doesn't just mean outside the lab: it means under totally unrestricted conditions, because that's when life actually happens, it doesn't wait for you to be sitting conveniently still before it throws something interesting at you. As such, we built our metrics not just from more than 2,500 hours of controlled studies, but also from more than 15,000 hours of real-world brain data and user outcomes. That's how you know Atlas works in real-life: our metrics have been tested against real life situations outside the lab, not just under controlled by unrepresentative conditions.

Most existing watch or ring wearables primarily measure signals from the body such as heart activity, movement and temperature. Atlas adds something fundamentally different: the electrical activity of the brain itself. Other wearables can provide useful context, but they do not replace the brain signal Atlas measures, this is the gateway into your mind.

Every wearable that claims to tell you something about your mind is measuring something and then inferring backwards. One of the most important questions to ask therefore is how many steps sit between the thing being measured and the thing being claimed:

• EEG measures the electrical activity of cortical neurons. Zero steps. EEG is measuring the organ which produces cognition.
• HRV measures the interval between heartbeats. Brain to brainstem to vagus nerve to sinoatrial node to beat timing to algorithm to optical (or other) sensor on the wrist, finger or face. Six steps, and the heart is a shared output driven by digestion, posture, temperature, hydration, illness and exercise as much as by cognition.

Asking your heart what your brain is doing is like asking someone in the next room what's on TV. They can hear when it gets loud but they can't tell you what you're watching. HRV is excellent for fitness, recovery, general sleep and training load. If you're tracking it with another wearable, Atlas reads it in through Apple Health for exactly that reason. It's complementary, not competing, to Atlas.

Atlas is also unique in the world of brain wearables because it is the first device that allows true longitudinal, round-the-clock wear in the real world. Every product that has come before has only been able to track brain activity in stationary conditions, that is, when you're sleeping, meditating or sitting very still. Even the slightest amount of movement, like speaking or turning your head, would introduce insurmountable levels of noise into the data, making it uninterpretable.

Atlas is the first brain tracker that withstands motion. We beat a $30,000 research-grade system, achieving more than 20× better data quality in movement situations. Atlas data in motion is high quality enough to be used in research.

The app, software and algorithms in Atlas for Presence, Stress, and Energy Burn are designed for daytime use. It is intended for all day wear, any day, except during water based activities. See warranty.

However, Atlas hardware is able to withstand 24/7 wear, provided the sensor and adhesive are changed as per the instructions. ATLAS does not currently offer nighttime and/or sleep focused algorithms. But for research purposes, and future consumer features, 24/7 wear is a possibility.

In line with FDA's General Wellness Policy for Low-Risk Devices, Atlas is a non-invasive consumer general wellness device. It does not stimulate your brain; it only detects naturally occurring electrical and physiological signals. Atlas is not a medical device and is not intended to diagnose, cure, mitigate, prevent, or treat medical conditions, diseases, or illnesses. Please do not make any changes to your medication, nutrition, or workouts without first consulting your doctor or another medical professional.

Two separate things get tested: the bluetooth radio, and the materials that touch your skin. ATLAS will have Bluetooth (FCC) and full biocompatibility (ISO 10993) certifications prior to the ship date.

The radio. Atlas is engineered to the same rules that cover every phone, laptop and pair of wireless earbuds you already own (FCC Part 15 in the United States). That covers how much power it transmits, that it doesn't interfere with other devices, and that radio exposure stays well inside internationally agreed safety limits. Certification testing is underway with an accredited lab. By law, a device like Atlas cannot be delivered to you until that certification is granted.

The materials. Every part of Atlas that touches your skin (the sensor and its components) is tested to ISO 10993, the biocompatibility standard used for research devices:

• Cytotoxicity (ISO 10993-5): the materials don't harm living cells.
• Skin sensitization (ISO 10993-10): they don't trigger allergic reactions with repeated use.
• Skin irritation (ISO 10993-23): they don't cause redness, swelling or inflammation.

Bluetooth is generally regarded as safe for humans. However, Atlas sits closer to your brain than a phone does, so it's a fair question. Here's the actual science.

It's the wrong kind of energy. Bluetooth is a non-ionizing radio. It doesn't carry enough energy to break chemical bonds or damage DNA, which is the mechanism people picture when they hear "radiation" and radio waves simply don't have it. The one established effect of radio energy at these frequencies is very slight tissue warming, and that takes orders of magnitude more power than Atlas has.

The research is reassuring. The largest review to date, commissioned by the World Health Organization and published in 2024, screened more than 5,000 studies published between 1994 and 2022 and found no association between radiofrequency exposure from wireless technology and brain or head-and-neck cancers. Brain cancer rates have not risen across twenty years of near-universal mobile phone use.

There are strong safety limits in place to protect you internationally. Exposure limits for bluetooth and other radio devices are set by international scientific bodies and enforced by regulators: for the general public, 2 W/kg absorbed in the head in Europe, and 1.6 W/kg in the United States. Atlas is engineered to the same rules that cover every phone, laptop and pair of wireless earbuds you already own (FCC Part 15 in the United States). That regulation covers that radio exposure stays well inside these internationally agreed safety limits. FCC certification testing for Atlas is underway with an accredited lab. Atlas will not ship until that certification is granted.

The ATLAS Membership is an automatically renewing membership that users must purchase to continue using the device after their initial three-month period expires. The ATLAS Membership includes sensor and adhesive replenishment, shipped every three months, along with full app access, live Atlas metrics, personalized insights, integrations, pattern discovery, and new features as we continue to develop the product.

The first 3 months of membership are included in Atlas' purchase price. The box comes with a 3-month supply of sensors and adhesives.

The Atlas device remains yours if you cancel your membership; however, the Atlas sensors wear out so you will need an active membership plan to replenish your supply of sensors in order to continue using the product. An active membership is also required for access to the ATLAS App and ATLAS Web App. If you cancel your membership, we will store a backup of your data in case you renew it, but you will not be able to access it through the app. You have a right to request a copy of it or its deletion.

Your ATLAS data belongs to you. You can request its deletion at any time. Atlas does not sell your personal data. We protect your data through secure infrastructure, restricted access and pseudonymization practices.

Atlas is for regular, everyday wear. We designed it to be worn during the waking day: put it on when you first wake up and take it off before you go to bed. You can participate in sports and exercise with Atlas as long as your head doesn't get wet, it is not yet rated for water immersion. For showering, sauna and Turkish baths, you can leave the sensor on but take the device off, since electronics are highly sensitive to water and steam.

For best performance, you should always use sensors with a fresh adhesive. Sensors are designed to last up to two weeks when used as intended, with fresh sensors and adhesives shipped to you every 3 months as part of your ATLAS Membership.

Atlas is only compatible with iPhone at the moment, specifically with iOS devices running iOS 18 and iPhone 12 or later models. Our integrations are powered by Apple HealthKit meaning the ATLAS App syncs with hundreds of health and fitness apps, as well as wearables like Apple Watch, Oura and Whoop. This allows us to connect your brain data to workouts, sleep, HRV and many other aspects of your wellbeing.

The Atlas 1.0 has a battery life of approximately two days. The portable charging case holds ten days of full charge for the Atlas.

Atlas is sweat and water resistant and can be worn during exercise. Atlas is not waterproof and cannot be submerged in water. Do not wear Atlas in the sauna, bath, steam room, while swimming, showering, or during other immersive water activities. Damage from water will void the warranty.

Atlas sensor and adhesive are both sweat and water resistant, except sea water. To shower, visit a sauna, swimming pool or Turkish bath, simply take Atlas off but leave the sensor on.

Atlas is currently estimated to begin shipping during Q1 2027. Please note that this timeline is subject to change. If this timeline changes, we will use reasonable efforts to notify you of the anticipated change by posting information about the updated timeline on our website and by attempting to send you an email at the email address associated with your account. Before your device ships, we'll notify you by email and ask you to confirm your shipping details.

Atlas is covered by a 1 year limited warranty against manufacturing defects. Returns are accepted within 15 days of delivery, subject to our return policy.

As you wear Atlas, it establishes your baseline and connects changes in your metrics to the context of your life. Over time, it learns which activities, environments, routines and suggestions reliably affect you and continually updates those relationships as new data is collected.

We also actively look for patterns in your data. Time of day, day of the week and even times of month. Not just workouts, but how intense they were or when in the day you do them.

Finally, as we gradually learn what makes you tick, the suggestions we provide to you when we detect a state shift, say low energy or high stress, will change, such that you get the recommendations with the strongest effect for you personally.