The Apollo™ wearable delivers low frequency sound waves, felt as barely perceptible, soothing vibrations, now called Apollo Vibes™, that restore balance to the nervous system, improving cardiovascular metrics, sleep, and reducing feelings of stress and anxiety. Previously referred to as “modes” within the Apollo Neuro app, we’re giving our proprietary vibrations the name they deserve. 

With seven Vibes to choose from on our mobile app, the Apollo™ wearable helps you tune your body to respond to the stressors of your day. Find the Vibe that fits, then flow into the specific state you want to achieve and better control how you feel. Apollo Vibes are like music for the skin. Just as music shifts our state in ways that depend on its pace, rhythm, and tone, Apollo Vibes deliver vibration patterns that selectively influence the nervous system depending on your goals.

There is Focus to minimize distractions and concentrate. Calm to quiet your nerves and clear your mind. Social to be open and comfortable in social settings. Energy for a pick-me-up boost when you’re feeling sluggish. Recover to restore your body after physical or mental stress. Unwind to help you rest, digest, and shake the day off. Fall Asleep to sleep soundly and wake up refreshed. Like a song for your nervous system, tune in to your silent, soothing soundtrack of Vibes, and calm your body and clear your mind for the ebbs, flows, and curveballs of your day. 

Apollo customers, don’t worry, the modes you know and love haven’t gone away, they just have new names now. 

What makes Apollo different from any vibration you’ve felt before?

It’s all about balance. The Apollo wearable isn’t just about relaxing, and it isn’t just about performing. It’s about improving your health and feeling better — and we’ve designed our Vibes to help your body gently transition through your natural response to touch.

How? We combined frequencies of vibration known to change our energy levels by increasing or decreasing parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system activity[41-54]. Vibes designed for rest and relaxation contain more slow-moving gentle frequencies known to increase parasympathetic activity, the branch of your nervous system that is activated when you meditate, deep breathe, and sleep [2, 9, 14, 27-31]. Vibes for energy contain vibration frequencies known in the literature to increase heart rate and blood flow for increased energy and alertness[2, 41-54].

Every single Apollo Vibe, whether it is designed to increase wakefulness or to help you fall asleep, is designed to restore your body by improving heart rate variability (HRV). The only exception to this is Social, which will not decrease nor increase your HRV.

Touch changes how we feel, and science has proven it.

Touch is a powerful sense. Evolutionarily, it is the most important way that mammals communicate safety to one another[30-40]. Different forms of touch (vibration, electricity, heat, cold, soothing massage, etc) can change how we feel in ways that can be measured biologically. Extensive reports demonstrate that certain frequencies of vibration are found to be soothing and significantly increase parasympathetic tone, as measured by heart rate variability (HRV), while others can be more energizing, increasing our heart rate and other measures of sympathetic activity[2, 41-54].

Deciding how you feel: A brief guide to Apollo Vibes 

The purpose of Apollo Vibes is to help you align your actions with your goals. Just like opening your curtains in the early morning supports the intention to wake up with the sun, the Vibes help you transition into physiological states compatible with your various intentions throughout the day.

The science behind the Vibes

Apollo Vibes are on a spectrum from most energizing to most relaxing, including:

• Energy: For a jolt of wakefulness in the morning or during an afternoon slump. This Vibe is designed to improve alertness and attention by combining frequencies of vibration known to gently elevate heart rate [41-47] with those vibrations shown to improve physical and mental recovery from stress, as measured by HRV [2, 48-54]. Try this mode in the morning and whenever they need a burst of energy.

• Social: A social flow state that promotes calm openness to help with presentations, video conferencing, creative work, or socializing when you're tired. This Vibe combines frequencies of vibration shown to improve recovery, HRV, and to increase both energy levels and feelings of calm [2, 41-54]. They are designed to help you feel engaged and at ease. 

• Focus: Ideal for tasks requiring deep and sustained concentration, particularly if they're boring or frustrating, like household chores or challenging work tasks. This Vibe combines frequencies of vibration shown to improve performance and HRV and to lower heart rate under stress [2, 42-54]. Scientific literature and university-led trials demonstrate that frequencies in the Focus Vibe improve focus and feelings of calm. Apollo wearable users typically use this Vibe for cognitive and athletic performance and creative work.

• Recover: An even and balanced mode that helps the body wind down after mental, physical, or emotional stressors. Recover Vibe combines frequencies of vibration shown to significantly improve HRV [2, 42-54] as seen in a recent double-blind randomized placebo-controlled crossed trial. Apollo wearable users typically use this Vibe for improved recovery from physical strain due to exercise, mental or emotional stress, or when feeling under the weather.

• Calm: Helps you access deeper meditative states whether you're a beginner or long-term practitioner and is generally grounding, even if you’re not meditating. Calm Vibe combines frequencies of vibration shown to improve HRV [2, 48-54] with others shown to improve our awareness of our bodies [2, 27-33]. By helping the body and mind relax into one another, these frequencies help users ease into and reach deeper meditation states more easily. Apollo users also use this mode for relief from persistent soreness and tension.

• Unwind: For easing your mind and promoting relaxation before bed. Unwind Vibe combines frequencies shown to support relaxation and recovery by increasing parasympathetic (rest and digest) activity in the nervous system and improving HRV [2, 27-33, 42-54]. Apollo users most often use this mode to unwind or before sleep.

• Fall Asleep: Fall asleep quickly or return to sleep after waking in the middle of the night. Fall Asleep  is the most gentle of the Apollo Vibes. Shown to improve parasympathetic activity and to aid in relaxation, Apollo trial participants reported feeling sleepy within minutes of using these frequencies [2, 42-54]. Fall Asleep Vibe is most often to help users fall asleep more easily, particularly after busy days, travel, and times of stress.

Our research has shown that Apollo Vibes work the way we've described above for about 95 to 99 percent of people, but there are always exceptions. As you experiment with the Apollo Vibes, think of them as guideposts rather than exact maps. Someone may describe a song as relaxing that you find quite irritating, Apollo Vibes are similar!

Scheduling Vibes: With the Apollo scheduling feature, you can customize the sequence of your Vibes to align with different points in your day. A schedule of Apollo Vibes that plays automatically helps you create new habits: the Vibes become like behavioral nudges that encourage you to follow through on intentions you had while setting your schedule. For more on the scheduling feature, read our article: How the Apollo Neuro Team Uses Scheduling.

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