The OptimizingAI Origin Story

Let’s rewind to 2014 at the University of Oregon’s Alemán Lab (Neuroscience and Quantum Physics) in Eugene. Hannes Bend, now CEO of OptimizingAI, was building heart-rate–responsive VR experiences. Born with mild cerebral palsy and nearly dying at birth, he learned to read his body’s signals through breathwork and meditation. “Breathwork became my healing path—I wouldn’t trade it for a trillion dollars,” he says.

From Personal Pain to Purpose

That personal journey had taken him from a successful art career into biofeedback technology research. His intersection of understanding psychology, human physiological reactions, and technology provided him a unique lens into how people actually respond to digital experiences—one that would prove crucial for what came next.

His early prototypes could make virtual worlds respond to stress levels in real time. Heart rate goes up? The environment gets calmer. But that year, while experimenting with these adaptive environments, Bend realized something was seriously wrong with how the tech industry understood people.

"We were building technology for humans while completely ignoring human physiology," Bend says.

Everywhere else in tech, companies were measuring clicks, taps, and page views while missing the biological signals that actually drove user behavior.

Breathing to Avoid Burnout

His journey from artist to AI innovator is driven by a deep commitment to human well-being and performance. That experience gave him a unique lens into the gap between what people say they feel and what their bodies actually reveal. In 2018, Bend founded Breathing.ai. The wellness platform was built to transform how people feel at work—it adjusted screen colors, prompted breathing breaks, and monitored posture. Basically, Bend built exactly what he needed to survive long hours at the computer. "I now build technology that adapts to humans, not the other way around. Curiosity and care fuel everything I do," he says.

Forbes noticed in 2018, calling Breathing.ai one of the wellness startups to watch.

But the real innovation wasn’t the wellness features. It was the underlying technology. Using remote photoplethysmography (fancy term for reading blood-flow changes via video), Bend’s team could detect heart rate and emotional states through any ordinary webcam—no wearables required.

Digital Emotional Intelligence for UX research

With over 10,000 users in 156 countries and a 5-star rating, Bend saw a larger opportunity. Instead of asking “How can we help people cope with stress?” he asked “How can we prevent stress in the first place?” Traditional tests rely on clicks and surveys while ignoring subtle, real-time reactions.

OptimizingAI technology revealed the emotional story behind user behavior in real-time, showing when interfaces caused stress, confusion, or delight. That insight sparked OptimizingAI—the B2B platform that gives product teams real-time emotional data during user testing.

The Science Behind OptimizingAI Insights

OptimizingAI approach combines multiple physiological signals—heart rate, breathing rate, micro-expressions—to explain and predict behavior. The technology earned credibility through partnerships with Northeastern University and an AAAI award at Stanford.Bend holds several patents on bio-adaptive interfaces.

The timing couldn’t be better. 71% of consumers expect personalized digital experiences, yet most UX research still relies on clicks and scrolls—missing the emotional context that actually drives behavior.

Scaling Emotion-Aware Technology

Today, OptimizingAI transforms any webcam into a sophisticated emotion-reading sensor.It delivers lab-grade insights without expensive setups. From VR research labs to UX teams, Hannes Bend’s journey—from art to AI—shows how personal challenges can inspire solutions that improve technology for everyone.