Some stress is useful. It sharpens our awareness of danger or helps us meet pressing deadlines at work. Unchecked, however, high-stress levels can wreak havoc on our lives, driving us into an endless cycle of fight-or-flight. Americans are some of the most stressed-out employees in the world, according to Gallup’s 2023 State of the Global Workplace report.
Alicia Mckoy, Ph.D., CCWS, is the CEO and founder of the innovative start-up Peak Mind and is tackling this pressing concern head-on. Operating out of the Emerging Manufacturing Collaboration Center (EMC2) in 16 Tech, Mckoy developed research-backed software that introduces businesses and their employees to a blend of tools to boost well-being at work. Combining the latest research in neuropsychology, biometrics, and cutting-edge AR and VR technology, Mckoy is helping Indiana workers identify, measure, and reduce their stress in real-time.
Mckoy spent five years researching neuropsychology and became a certified corporate Wellness Specialist (CCWS) to understand what drives mental well-being in the workplace. She interviewed more than 100 mental health experts and professionals, accumulating mindfulness techniques and effective cognitive behavioral therapy practices, providing the foundation for Peak Mind in 2020. Today, the Peak Mind app has a library of more than 150 ‘mental spa’ action steps to reduce stress. It also measures users’ stress in real time, empowering employees to thrive in the moments they feel most stressed. Peak Mind received an Indiana Innovation Voucher Grant through the IEDC to help scale the company’s efforts to connect chronically stressed workers with real-time wellness intelligence using wearable technology.
“One of the benefits of being at 16 Tech is you get to meet and network with people and organizations that can help advance your company and collaborate on meaningful projects such as these,” Mckoy says. The grant supported Peak Mind’s membership to a state-certified testing lab and research facility inside EMC2. “EM
C2 has true 5G WiFi speed so that I can use my VR devices with greater data capture and processing on an edge computing server,” Mckoy explains. “If you come to my lab I can show you your biodata and discuss how it correlates to stress levels — your heart rate, heart rate variability, blood pressure pupillometry, and cognitive load or overload. If you’re using any wearable, you would want your data to be encrypted and protected while edge computing. Those are the two main things I’ve chosen to do with our VR hardtech and biosciences research and development at EMC2 and 16 Tech, which is why I’m here.”
