Wow Watch Wednesday: The Pointless StressWatch
This week’s watch is not only weird, but in my opinion it’s also useless. Its called the StressWatch and as the name suggests indicates the wearer’s level of stress. Which brings me to my next point. It doesn’t even tell the time, which in my book means that it fails the definition of a watch, therefore I will refer to it as the Stress ‘Bracelet’. On the up side it does come equipped with a colorful display to illustrate your real time stress levels.
How Does It Work?
I’ll begrudgingly admit that the technical functionality of the ‘bracelet’ is actually pretty cool. Effectively it reports the real-time biofeedback of several body functions including heart rate and the body`s temperature and displays them in a (presumably) meaningful manner.
However, it doesn’t stop there. Creators Michael Mathis and Gerda Hopfgartner have developed what they call ‘guidelines for relaxation’ which are designed to help the wearer identify and reduce their stress levels. Here’s how:
The guidelines are the well-being waves, visualized on the display, the stress line, displayed on the black bar graph, as well as the heart rate and the body`s temperature, located into the clock face. If the display shows sprinted waves kept in warm colors, and the stress line is completely full, you need to change your breathing and your focus. As you slow down your breathing and find your optimal breathing rate, you will literally see a change of the graphic chart. So the alarming well-being waves transform into smooth one with cool colors and the stress line decreases back to the relaxing indication.
Right.
The Final Word
Ask yourself this, do you really need a watch or bracelet or whatever you want to call it to tell you when you’re stressed? The simple answer is no. As a competent human being you are more than capable of determining if you’re feeling a bit worked up, so here’s a tip on how to resolve it.
Stop, take a deep breath and cast your mind back to when you read this article and saved yourself a few hundred dollars by not buying the StressWatch. There, feeling better already!
Category: Wow Watch Wednesday
Odd!