What Wearables Miss When They Measure “Stress”

Last month, my smart ring told me I was under high stress at 7 pm on a Tuesday. I wasn't feeling "high stress" at all, instead, I was just running up the stairs because I had forgotten my laptop charger and needed to get to my Zoom meeting in six minutes. The same night, an hour later, I really was feeling stressed as I looked at a full inbox that I didn't want to read. My ring gave that moment almost the exact same score.

That's when it clicked for me. These sensors aren't measuring stress. They're measuring a body that's revved up, and they have no idea why.

If you build wearable software, health apps, or anything that touches biometric data, this matters more than a fun personal observation. It's a design limitation and it is the key to understanding the confusing numbers in your readiness or stress level.

...

Copyright of this story solely belongs to hackernoon.com. To see the full text click HERE