Opera will launch a new browser that protects users' mental well-being: what's new

Using the Internet can be very stressful – intrusive ads and clickbait headlines with scary news come at us from everywhere and can greatly affect our mood. A Norwegian company that develops the Opera browser has decided to overcome this problem.

According to TechCrunch, the developer has presented a browser called Opera Air. Its features focus on mental well-being and mindfulness. The browser reminds its users of breaks, breathing exercises, soundscapes, and binaural rhythms for better concentration. The company stated that it wanted to create not just a convenient tool for using the Internet, but a real stress and concentration management system.

For Opera Air, the developers chose a translucent design. The pop-up sidebar features a break reminder tool and the Boosts function, which plays a combination of music, ambient sounds, and binaural beats, as well as shortcuts to AI-powered assistants Aria, Messenger, and WhatsApp.

The "Take a Break" feature acts as a battery indicator with three bars. They turn gray if you continue to use the browser for an extended time. You can define a time of continuous use after which the bar level drops, signaling you to take a break. You can also turn off this indicator system completely.

For more effective breaks, the browser offers various breathing exercises, neck stretches, meditation, or full-body scans. You can perform these exercises depending on the duration of the break you want to take and the activity mode you choose. In addition, you can turn on the camera so that the browser can monitor whether you are doing the neck exercises correctly and correct your movements. Currently, the instructions are only available in English, but the company is also working on voiceovers in other languages.

Another mindfulness feature, called Boosts, comes with a preset combination of music, ambient sounds, and binaural beats. The company's chief product officer, Mohamed Salah, said that the company decided to include binaural beats in these soundscapes because they help improve focus. These sounds play slightly different frequencies in each ear, essentially creating a new "ghost" frequency effect in the brain.

You can change the music, ambient sound, frequency of the binaural beats, and volume of each track at any time. Users can also choose how long they want to play Boosts sounds from 15 minutes to infinity. You can also stop them from playing using the sidebar at any time.

When TechCrunch asked Opera's developers why it created a separate browser rather than building these tools into an existing product, Salah said the company wanted to build the concept of mindfulness into a separate program. "Opera One is a great productivity-focused browser with features like split-screen and tab islands. But what we want to do with Opera Air is to convey the concept of mindfulness with mindfulness tools and a minimalist design," he said.

He also noted that while there are various apps on Macs and mobile devices for break reminders or soundscapes, the company wanted to provide a comprehensive mindfulness package on the desktop.

Subscribe to the OBOZ.UA channels on Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events.