A Mind for Mindfulness

The soft, stress ball-like device pulses gently in Zoe Li's hand, its gentle rhythm syncing with her heartbeat. As she closes her eyes, the world around her fades, replaced by a soothing voice guiding her through a personalized meditation session.

This isn’t just any meditation app, though. It is Embrace, Li's brainchild born from personal perseverance and nurtured by cutting-edge technology.

Li (MLDS ‘24) is the founder of Embrace and a recent graduate of Northwestern Engineering's Master of Science in Machine Learning and Data Science (MLDS) program (formerly the MSiA program). She found solace in meditation during the COVID-19 pandemic's darkest days, but she discovered that, for many, the practice was more frustrating than fulfilling.

“People don't quit meditation because of a lack of intent,” she said. “They quit because they feel distracted and frustrated during the practice.”

Li's research found that while more than 500 million people have tried meditation, more than half have quit because they can’t stay focused. This realization sparked an idea for a meditation app that could keep users engaged and present.

Leveraging her background in AI and data science, Li set out to create a tool that bridges the gap between intention and practice.

Embrace isn’t another basic meditation app in an already crowded market. It combines a mobile application with a smart, tactile device that captures the user’s pulse and body temperature. This hardware integration creates a more immersive and responsive meditation experience.

“Unlike traditional meditation apps that only offer audio, our product combines real-time biofeedback with a tangible, interactive tool that helps users stay present,” Li said. “Our companion app uses AI to generate real-time customized content based on each user’s physiological state and emotional needs.”

The journey from concept to reality wasn’t a solo endeavor. Li teamed up with Simon Su (MLDS '24) to bring Embrace to life. Together, they applied the skills honed during their time in the MLDS program to build the app’s robust backend.

“MLDS gave us the foundation to build the system behind our app — from setting up cloud databases to collecting and analyzing user data,” Li said. “We are especially proud of how we have used large language models to generate real-time, personalized content, and we’re excited to implement more machine learning features moving forward.”

The startup’s growth was nurtured within the walls of The Garage, Northwestern’s innovation and entrepreneurship hub. Li credits the incubator’s resources, mentorship, and community for helping shape Embrace into what it is today.

With a core team of eight – including neuroscientists, psychologists, and a licensed therapist – Embrace is poised to make waves in the meditation app market. The first version of the app is already available on the Apple Store, with plans for more advanced features in the pipeline.

Li believes Embrace can reach a wide span of audiences, from helping families with autistic children through guided meditation to creating a tech-driven solution for mindfulness.

“A lot of people think meditation is about clearing the mind, but in reality, it’s about training the mind to return to the present again and again,” Li said. “Even experienced meditators get distracted. Our product supports that return by making the invisible — your internal state — visible and actionable.”