Boston-based meQuilibrium is expanding its digital platform with the launch of its first biometric tool.
MeQuilibrium believes developing resilience in the workplace is a science, and its digital platform uses AI, predictive analytics and neuroscience to help employees work through challenges. The typical experience with meQuilibrium begins with an assessment of an organization’s strengths and weaknesses, followed by personalized trainings and resources for employees and leaders.
But even with their current assessments and analytics, meQuilibrium's leaders felt like something was still missing.
“We want to use more forms of feedback, including biometric feedback, to incorporate that as part of a holistic way of measuring your success,” Neal Bruce, senior vice president of product strategy, said in an interview. “We’ve been looking for ways to demonstrate feedback beyond just self-reported feedback.”
The company’s new Breathe Coach mobile tool will allow users to analyze their breath and heart rate by scanning a finger on their smartphone camera lens. MeQuilibrium says the user’s current breathing patterns and heart rate will be displayed on the screen, and the tool can track these long-term patterns.
Breathe Coach can also lead the user through a guided breathing practice intended to reduce stress. Bruce said there is a series of training topics on the tool to match moments in a user’s life, such as preparing to sleep or getting ready for a stressful event.
“The combination of controlling your breathing and corresponding heart rate helps everyone create a healthier relationship with their nervous system and their body,” Bruce said.
Founded in 2011, meQuilibrium has 90 employees, most of whom work in Boston, and has garnered $33.5 million in investments to date.
MeQuilibrium purchased this camera lens technology from the Denmark-based breathing app Resilio in March 2021. Bruce said the tool already worked on iPhones, and meQuilibrium integrated it with its platform and ensured it also worked for Androids.
MeQuilibrium, including its new Breathe Coach feature, are available for companies to purchase; it is not a consumer application like Headspace, Bruce said.
Bruce said the Breathe Coach is the first of many steps meQuilibrium is planning to make in biometric and wearable integration. The company hopes to look into incorporating sleep, exercise and food tracking in the future. Bruce said he sees the company continuing to grow as more organizations realize the importance of a resilient workplace.
“I think that resilience was seen as an esoteric term five years ago, and now I hear the word resilience constantly,” Bruce said. “We live in a world that’s changing faster than ever and challenges are coming at us faster than ever, and so executives are starting to understand the power of resilience.”
