A new headband with biometric data reveals stress, even when the employee tries to appear strong and unaffected. In a project under the Life Science Lighthouse initiative, the company Neurora will monitor workplace well-being and identify signs of stress before the employee becomes ill.
It was their personal experiences with mental health and stress that brought the founders of Neurora together and sparked their passion for helping others. Thomas Ousterhout had struggled with his mental health for years while researching in neurotech, and Christian Høding, as a strategy consultant, recognized his own stress symptoms across various industries. Today, their personal challenges have turned into an energetic vision: they aim to measure and address stress tendencies in companies and prevent employees from burning out.
“We offer what I needed myself when I burned out,” says Christian Høding.
The Life Science Lighthouse initiative has awarded funding to Neurora, which measures biometric data with a headband and combines this data with a questionnaire capturing the test subject’s own experiences.
“We differentiate ourselves from competitors by providing both objective and subjective data. Neuroscientific data is complex, and we make it simple and usable, helping companies take the next step instead of just presenting a lot of statistics,” says Thomas Ousterhout.
Neurora is leading the project Empowering Mental Health: Tackling Stigma, Stress, and Well-being with EEG Cognitive Tracking in collaboration with the company Mickey Creatives ApS.
Workplace stress costs more than 16 billion kroner annually, according to a 2023 study by the National Research Centre for the Working Environment (NFA). A stressed employee performs poorly, often for a long period leading up to a potential sick leave. The absence itself is expensive, causing a loss of productivity, and replacing the skills can be a lengthy process—not to mention the human equation, which hasn't even been factored in.
Companies therefore have strong financial incentives to address stress, and there is certainly no shortage of HR tools and well-being surveys. The problem, however, is that many initiatives are too short-term and sporadic, and are based either on the employee's or the manager's subjective assessment, says Christian Høding.
“Many people push themselves through—just this one project, just this one deadline—and then they crash and get sick when they finally reach their vacation. We can measure it quite objectively, even if the employee reports otherwise,” says Christian Høding.
In a pilot project, Neurora collaborated with a Danish influencer marketing agency, where trends and impressions move quickly. Here, eight employees participated in a four-week program, in which Neurora monitored their well-being. Depending on the measurements, Neurora could suggest interventions such as breaks, exercise, mindfulness, or breathing exercises.
However, speed and intensity in the workplace don’t necessarily cause stress, emphasizes Thomas Ousterhout.
“Some people get stressed from having too much work—and others get stressed from having too little to do. We can’t predict that in advance. The workload might be high, and the employee could still be thriving in it, within their team, and with their working conditions. In that case, that’s exactly what we relay to the company,” says Thomas Ousterhout.
Neurora collects data by having an employee wear the headband for 30 minutes each week. The headband records biometric data, after which the employee answers a questionnaire about their specific work situation and what they were doing at the time.
“It’s important not to make assumptions about whether the employee is stressed. The biometric data might spike if, for example, there’s construction noise outside that’s bothering the employee. We combine the measurements with the employee's questionnaire responses and give each person and situation a score. Then, we help them take the next steps, providing techniques and strategies to handle the situation better,” says Christian Høding.
A headband that collects biometric data might sound like something from a sci-fi movie starring Tom Cruise, but Neurora’s founders emphasize that the employees’ data is handled securely and anonymized.
The company receives an overall report showing trends, and Neurora conducts a strategy workshop offering tools and solutions. Classic stress factors can include poor communication within the team or tasks that employees lack the resources or skills to complete.
Neurora is still in its early stages, but the ambitions are global, say Thomas Ousterhout and Christian Høding, along with the third co-founder, tech expert Jakob Sutton.
“We can’t eliminate stress from the world entirely, but we can alleviate the symptoms and reduce stress levels before someone burns out completely. Time is on our side, as many companies are becoming aware of how problematic stress is and are focusing on preventing it,” says Christian Høding.
The funds from the Life Science Lighthouse initiative will be used to develop the company’s software and the app connected to the headband.
“What makes this team truly strong is that we didn’t meet through some marketing course. We came together because we shared a common goal: to help employees and give them concrete tools to improve their mental well-being,” says Christian Høding.
The Life Science Lighthouse initiative is co-financed by the European Union.
From left to right, Thomas Ousterhout, Christian Høding, and Jakob Terrell Sutton have joined forces to prevent and combat employee stress. Thomas Ousterhout holds a PhD in cognitive neuroscience and has ten years of experience in neurodata research and treatment. Christian Høding holds a degree in business administration from CBS and has worked as a strategy consultant and advisor across various industries. Jakob Terrell Sutton is a biomedical engineer from DTU, specializing in data analysis and machine learning. Photo: Neurora.