Samsung, Well Being Digital (WBD101), Yale University and UCSF collaborate to address mental wellness using hearables

Addressing mental wellness through PPG stress sensing (HRV) and taVNS intervention

Wearables are for awareness, hearables come with intervention.

Acute stress affects almost everyone. It shows up in moments like high pressure meetings, public speaking, or tense daily interactions-and over time it can take a real toll on both mental and physical wellness. The challenge is that stress often builds quietly in the body before we consciously realize what's happening. Most wearables today-like watches or rings-are excellent at tracking stress signals such as heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) but they only raise awareness after the fact and don't do anything to help in the moment.

This Samsung research demonstrates a new approach to real time stress management by integrating non-invasive transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) with continuous PPG sensing from Well Being Digital (WBD101) into a single wearable earbud designed for outpatient use. Unlike the wrist or hand, the ear contains dense branches of the vagus nerve that directly connect to the body's autonomic stress regulation pathways, making it a uniquely effective site for neuromodulation.

Increasingly, academics and clinicians are turning to heart rate variability (HRV) as an objective, physiological marker of stress, complementing-and in many cases advancing beyond-traditional questionnaire-based assessments. WBD101's in ear stress and HRV sensing algorithms have been previously trialed in academic research at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and have since been deployed in commercial products including the Hera Leto M8 and Anker Liberty 4, both of which monitor stress through HRV.

Press release here, and the Samsung scientific publication located within the press release: Samsung collaborates with Well Being Digital (WBD101)