There are a lot of wearable tech now focused around tracking sleep, heart rate and even stress. Do these “stress apps” work? Furthermore, are they worth the financial investment?
That is the question we are trying to tackle here today.
One thing is for certain: these gadgets are definitely “in” right now.
Just today as I was browsing YouTube, an advertisement popped up featuring NFL star and celebrity Odell Beckham Jr. What was the ad for? Oura. Oura is literally a ring that you wear on your finger to track your sleep and activity levels. The ring looks like simple wedding band.
Check Oura aht below:
One could argue that this stress level gadget craze all started with the Fitbit. The initial allure of the Fitbit was simple: it tracked your steps to keep you fit.
But what we are seeing today is far more advanced. Is this technology for real, or just a money-making fad?
“First, it was step trackers. Then, it was heart rate monitors. Now, stress monitoring is the latest evolution of wearable technology in the world of health and wellness and you can conveniently track it all on your phone. Having a bad day? Your fitness tracker can now recognize that", writes integrisok.com.
Big-time corporations are certainly diving into this. Look at Apple, for instance. The new Apple Watch, once more of a cool fashion statement than anything else, now has crazy health monitoring capabilities. These include tracking steps, monitoring heart rate, acting as an EKG, tracking your sleep and also analyzing blood oxygen levels.
According to this man’s testimony in the article below, it is real and here to stay. Read his post for yourself. He claims that the Apple Watch helped him uncover stress levels that he had not realized before… until he began tracking his sleep:
Without reading scientific studies on this subject, it appears to me that the notion that a company as reputable as Apple would put their name on the line to design a gimmick product is farfetched.
Furthermore, with varying apps and gadgets (such as Oura), as much as I hate to say it.. why would someone go with a new no name brand when a company like apple is putting out a similar product?
Now, there are some naysayers to the overall industry here.
Check aht this article below. It hypothesizes that stress trackers may actually do more harm than good. The article goes onto note that most of these stress tracking apps require monthly subscriptions. The article also scrutinizes Amazon for getting the go-ahead to develop technology that tracks your sleep via radar. Strange.
The author goes onto point out that, “One study in 2013 deliberately fed its participants the wrong sleep data and noted that they did exactly as well on cognitive tests as their fake data predicted”.
You get the point. Sure, that 2013 study may have been conducted nearly a decade ago. Advancements undoubtedly have been made. But the verdict is still out.
Conclusion: Now, taking all of this into account, what do we derive at?
I would say that a variety of opinions hold water here. Is there merit associated with some of this technology? Sure. But be careful to not get scammed by these no-name brands cashing in at a time when the market for this type of thing is scolding hot.
I think, perhaps, what can most be taken away from this is that the future of technology aiding health is a bright one.
It appears to me that these gadgets pose the real possibility of helping us becoming healthier while preventing life-threatening occurrences. We have often cited on this blog examples of times where the evolution of technology has gone a bit too far.
In some forms, it could be argued that technological advancements have become a detriment to our everyday life. The addictions it may aid. The dependency on technology itself. We could go on and on.
But in regards to health, I believe tech (available on our smartphones) will increasingly become an aid to guide us in a healthy direction going forward.
Do you have a stress level app idea? Give us a call! Book an appointment with us today. Why wait around?
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