According to a new study, the Apple Watch can be used to forecast stress.
With each version of Apple’s smartwatches, health functions have been added.
Researchers from the University of Waterloo in Canada conducted the investigation.

With each new edition of the Apple Watch, Cupertino-based tech giant Apple has attempted to incorporate more and more health-related capabilities into their smartwatches. They have been a fan favourite, inspiring an increasing number of people to enter the world of smartwatches. According to a new study, the sensor data received from the Watch might be used to create a stress prediction tool.

Since the release of the Apple Watch in 2014, there have been incremental changes to both the software and hardware capabilities to ensure that the watch’s portfolio of health functions has grown.

Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra models now have Blood Oxygen, ECG App, and Heart Rate tracking. There are also tracking functions such as irregular rhythm alerts, temperature detection, and cycle tracking with retro ovulation estimates.

Returning to the study that highlighted the potential that may be explored using Apple Watch data, it was conducted by researchers from the University of Waterloo in Canada and was titled – Using apple watch ECG data for heart rate variability monitoring and stress prediction: A pilot study. The researchers used data acquired from 33 study participants to model the Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machines (SVM) approaches. “Our models demonstrated specificity in their abilities to identify “no stress” situations but were less successful in capturing “stress” conditions,” the researchers noted in their paper.

Overall, the findings show that Apple Watch ECG sensor data could be used to construct a stress prediction tool with more development and refinement.

There are numerous tracking programmes accessible on the Apple App Store for consumers to investigate and get started with on their own! While these discoveries appear to be encouraging, there are still many avenues to pursue. As stated in the paper, data gathered from additional research into this could also assist authorities worldwide in developing new and effective health policies.