StressThing

stressor tracker connectable to wearable health tech

the idea

We've all got a lot of stress factors in our life, but if we're not stressed in the moment it's sometimes hard to pinpoint exactly where our stressors come from without using umbrella terms like "school" or "work". Enter StressThing. StressThing is a web app meant to be integrated with a FitBit or other health wearable such that every time the wearable detects physical signs of stress (e.g. rising heartbeat with low motion), it prompts the wearer to answer the question "Are you stressed?" If yes, the user is prompted to record their stressor in the current moment on their connected phone. Over time, StressThing allows the user to look at what their long-term stressors are, so they can make adjustments and improve their quality of life.

future work

Our FitBit integration was pretty hacky. For a long-term project we'd need to fix that. Also, we could make the physical stress detection more robust — right now it's just detecting heart rate, but that's too variable of a measurement. Additionally, StressThing could evolve to also proactively remind users to take care of their mental health: if you've been logging a lot of stress during exam period and you usually log a lot of homework stress before exam period and you've been logging a lot of homework stress recently, StressThing could send you a reminder and connect you to mental health and relaxation resources before exam period hits.