Many stressed-out workaholics are slaves to their endlessly ticking watch telling them there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done.
Now a high-tech device that straps on to your wrist can predict when you’re about to become too stressed – an hour before you even notice anxiety levels rising.
The gadget is eerily similar to the app invented to monitor stress levels by tech tycoon Peter Isherwell – played by British actor Mark Rylance – in Netflix’s new hit film Don’t Look Up.
The Nowatch is the first device on the market to monitor a person’s cortisol levels, the primary stress hormone.
Now a high-tech device that straps on to your wrist can predict when you’re about to become too stressed – an hour before you even notice anxiety levels rising
Cortisol levels that are higher than normal can lead to concentration problems, weight gain and insomnia.
The app senses ‘electrodermal activity’ – the electrical current the skin conducts which depends on the state of our sweat glands, with even a tiny difference reflecting a change in our emotional state. A program analyzes this data to notify the user via subtle vibration that it is possible to need to take a break.
But despite its appearance, the one thing the £570 device will not do is tell you the time – because its inventors believe a screen only adds to the user’s stress.
The ‘watch face’ is actually a hand-carved gemstone, with the technology hidden beneath connecting to an app on the user’s smartphone.
The gadget is eerily similar to the app invented to monitor stress levels by tech tycoon Peter Isherwell – played by British actor Mark Rylance – in Netflix’s new hit film Don’t Look Up
This is only one example of the thousands of gadgets that will be on display at the annual CES Conference in Las Vegas. It’s a glimpse into the future of technology.
However, a sudden surge in Omicron cases in America has led to many of the biggest exhibitors – such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon – to attend virtually.
Like other health watches on the market today, the Nowatch can monitor temperature, heart rate and oxygen level as well. Developed over 15 years with electronics firm Philips, the Nowatch – which boasts up to two weeks of battery life – will give the user advance warning of stress in order to ‘catch a breath, take a walk, reconnect to the now’.
A spokesman for the Amsterdam-based firm said: ‘Measuring cortisol contribution through skin conductance in this way is unique and has never been done before.
This technology will be used in automobiles by the firm, which has a dashboard that is 3D designed to hover above motorists while they drive.
‘It registers the same response to cortisol contribution when subjected to identical stressors, offering more robust and cleaner measurements and predictions.’
Nowatch will become available for purchase in March 2013.
Coronavirus may have influenced many products unveiled at CES, including a smart way to assist those who are afraid of germ-ridden surfaces.
Japanese nanotech firm unveils floating display technology that could eliminate the need for buttons to be pressed in public areas such as lifts.
Imuzak claimed that buttons will instead be touch-sensitive holograms placed a few cm away from the wall.
It plans to make use of the company’s patented technology to build cars with a 3D dashboard, designed to appear in front motorists when they are driving.
A ‘microlens’ will sit in the steering wheel and beam out a floating display, which can show incoming calls or warning messages.
It is currently in discussions with Japanese automobile manufacturers and plans to release the product on the market by 2024.
The CES will host more than 2200 exhibitor booths. It runs Wednesday to Saturday.