Heart on your sleeve: New smart bracelet helps to reduce stress

Developed by a New York start-up and now being crowdsourced on Indiegogo, the wrist strap can monitor stress levels via heart rate variability, skin conductance, skin temperature and motion. It also analyses sleeping habits and links to users’ smartphones to learn lifestyle habits.

With this data, Olive can recognise a stressful situation and recommend breathing exercises or power poses to help manage the condition. Over time, the bracelet will understand when users are more likely to be stressed and suggest plans and routines to help contain stress levels.

As stress continues to be an unavoidable component of modern life, consumers are becoming less reluctant to admit anxiety levels and ask for help. In the way in which we have seen consumers happily and publicly monitor their fitness levels, Olive suggests consumers are prepared to do the same with regard to their mental health. 

For more, read our microtrend on how Stress is the New Fat.