For people in high-stress professions—think surgeons, pilots, and other high-responsibility jobs—monitoring mental health is a necessity.
This is because an overloaded brain has a harder time thinking clearly. And decision-making tends to take a hit, too.
Now, researchers at the University of Texas in Austin say they’ve figured out a highly accurate way to monitor mental workload through something called an “e-tattoo.” An e-tattoo is a thin, flexible device that sticks to your forehead and tracks stress in real time.
The device itself is made of a lightweight, graphite-based material that gets attached to the forehead using conductive adhesive film.
Four small square EEG sensors pick up different brain regions’ activity. Other electrodes are placed around the eye to track movement and electrical signals. Another sensor sits behind the ear as a reference point.
Together, this setup allows scientists to monitor cognitive load and emotional stress as they fluctuate.
Not everyone’s convinced it’s a good idea. Under a post on r/science discussing the new research, some Redditors were skeptical—and frustrated.
“Rather spend all this money on creating monitoring tech than give folks the resources to not end up this stressed at work,” one person wrote.
Another added, “Guarantee that is not how this tech would be used if it is developed. We already know how to help people deal with stress, and it’s to give them time off and support, two things jobs don’t want to do because of the cost.”
“Just sounds like another way employers will exploit workers,” a third claimed. “Masked in the ‘oh this will stop us from overworking them,’ I think the actual narrative will be ‘well this is how much we can push X person so every person can be pushed to Y amount before they break.’”