Could I Be Dependent on My Wearable Device?
There's a feeling of anticipation. Apparent is the frosty air coming from my competitors as they do the "starting line" wiggle on the beginning point.
A rapid flick of the hips.
I'm lined up for my local weekly parkrun event and I'm focused. The countdown begins...
Hold on. I have to adjust my tracker. As does the guy alongside me.
The person in the line expresses impatience. I'm not moving until… yes! Connection established, I'm off.
During the scramble, it's hard to see a wrist without a wearable on it. And it's not just us participants who use them.
This is a thriving, multi-billion dollar sector. Names like Apple Watch lead the market, featuring an wide range of different versions to fit a range of budgets. Depending on how high tech the model you choose, costs can start from £100 to a small fortune.
"It drives me insane, I can't stop checking."
"It comforts me… It acts as a companion encouraging me."
"Please don't notify me about a bad night's sleep."
Just some of the reactions I've had from like-minded device users when I ask what they their opinion is on theirs.
The Monitoring Conundrum
My feelings on my own device? Currently, frustrating. It's reporting I'm not hitting my target, leading me to doubt whether the trees I'm passing under are disrupting my satellite signal.
Millions of us attach these little devices onto our wrists and keep them on 24/7, seemingly comfortable with the fact they're continuously monitoring us.
Gone are the days when we depended on them only to give us an estimation of our pedometer reading. Now, they can track our sleep quality, stress levels, oxygen saturation, our body battery.
It's tricky to find a bodily function they don't track.
But can they do what they advertise? And are the statistics we scrutinise a faithful picture of our actual health? Do they boost our daily wellness, or do the multitude of readings and cheerleading alerts just contribute to our sense of overwhelm?
A Love-Hate Relationship
"I become a bit obsessed with mine," an individual confesses.
While she appreciates how her device records her workouts, she finds some of its other functions "excessive" at times - a feeling that became apparent during a significant period.
Until she found out she could change its configuration, her smartwatch kept telling her she was being insufficiently active enough. Later on, the watch insists her she's had a bad night's sleep.
"I am caring for a young baby, there's no point to be told my sleep was poor," she says. "I'm acutely aware perfectly well."
Couldn't she just remove it?
"I could, perhaps, but I've got this love-hate relationship with it," she says. "I value it for its workout tracking, but I'm unsure whether all the other things it can now do is maybe excessive for me."
How Do They Work?
Each model of smartwatch has its own novel way of measuring your health metrics and processing your data, but the vast bulk use sensors on the reverse of the watch.
They usually shine tiny, coloured LED lights onto your arm which can detect capillary action, recording your BPM. Higher-end devices detect changes in the electrical current that flows through the skin to get an idea of your stress levels.
Expert Perspectives
A professor says that for most people for smartwatches, it's a "difficult line" - while the rapidly advancing tech could potentially save lives, "spotting abnormalities before we feel unwell", it could also turn us device users into the "worried well".
He points out that newer wearables can conduct tests like heart rhythm analysis, which regularly monitor how stable the heart is. They can flag if someone is experiencing a heart arrhythmia, where there is erratic impulses in the heart causing an uneven pulse.
This does not necessarily indicate someone is about to have a cardiac event, but it can give an advance notice they might be more susceptible of a heart problem in the years to come.
But how to understand these readings is complex. The expert worries that as further capabilities are added, people may struggle to fully comprehend their data.
"I remain sceptical that the ability to monitor so many metrics is such a good idea," he says.
A clinical psychologist focusing on cardiology echoes this sentiment. Research into the impact of wearable tech on a cohort of cardiovascular patients suggested a noticeable percentage of those who were given devices to monitor their cardiac function experienced greater stress and were "had a higher tendency to use healthcare resources".
She noted a pattern with her patients - they saw a worrying figure on their watch. They became worried. Their heart rate increased. They got more worried. They re-examined the data, and their anxiety went up again.
"If we see stats about ourselves that we lack context for then, understandably, we are going to seek clarification," the psychologist says. "We look, we re-check - it becomes a vicious cycle."
