Wearables Move Beyond Fitness With Nuna Pendant, a $299 AI Necklace That Tracks Emotional Health
What’s better for your state of mind: the buzz of a crowded café or the calm of a quiet park? Nuna’s wearable pendant uses AI to read mood from your body, voice and environment
Wearables have spent the last decade tracking steps, sleep and stress. Now one startup wants to measure something more elusive: your emotions.
ThingX, a digital health-tech venture spun out of the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s AIoT Lab and supported by a team of global researchers, has unveiled the Nuna Smart Pendant, a $299 necklace that uses sensors and AI to translate biometric, environmental and voice signals into emotional insights. Originally codenamed PieX (Personal Index), the device started as an academic prototype.
“This is more than a product launch,” Nuna founder Ernest X said. “It marks the start of a movement for emotional wellbeing, powered by on-device embedded AI, multimodal sensing and millimeter-wave radar — delivering real-time emotional intelligence while keeping your data fully private.”
The device is built to resemble a piece of jewelry while housing advanced sensing technology. Behind the low-profile, minimalist pendant is the ability to track heart rate variability, breathing and micro-movements without contact. Voice analysis captures tone, pace and energy to detect emotional shifts, identifying patterns through what the company calls a “vocal biomarker” that recognizes mood naturally and privately. Environmental sensing monitors both noise and silence to show how surroundings influence mood. For example, Nuna can tell if a user is in a crowded café or enjoying a quiet picnic and provide insights into how the atmosphere is affecting emotional well-being.
Nuna’s companion app turns that stream into emotion tracking and coaching suggestions, layering in meditation and breathing tools, subtle vibration cues to calm and focus and an auto-journaling feature that builds an emotional diary. Essentially, users can spot emotional trends, patterns and triggers over time. The company says Nuna is built with on-device privacy, meaning raw audio is never stored or transmitted.
Nuna comes in silver, black, pebble white and pebble black, with a battery that lasts up to 48 hours on standby. The $299 pendant does not require a subscription, which could appeal to consumers turned off by the recurring fees common in other wearables. The device can integrate with other health apps, according to the company’s website, although it does not specify which apps are supported.
Limited U.S. pre-orders are now open, with shipping expected later this year. Early Nuna adopters will receive exclusive insights and gifts, early shipment and additional app features, according to the company.