Apple Watches and other wearable devices are giving us more data about our bodies than we’ve ever had access to before. Photo / Getty Images
Wearable tech is advancing swiftly and, from smart watches to sleep tracking, we’ve never had more information about our bodies. Can it make us feel safer? Emma Gleason ponders the proposition after six months of wearing one herself.
We’re not sleeping well. Our paranoia about our bodies has been heightened since the pandemic, when we all had a crash course in science and health. The moral valorisation of wellness and (rightful and much-documented) benefits of exercise has made fitness a pursuit.
At the same time, technology is innovating and we’re more attached to personal devices than ever.
The term “smart phone” feels like an oversimplification given all these things can do, and now connectivity has expanded to wearables, with smartwatches the most embraced iteration of the category. (Sorry Google Glass).
Also increasing in public awareness are concerns about health, safety and security. Are we sleeping enough? And walking enough? Do we know where our kids and parents are?
Certain groups can feel more vulnerable than others, with women feeling more concerned walking alone at night, or seniors experiencing isolation and vulnerability when living alone.
Digital devices create a sense of control and connection, both of which can ease anxiety around health and safety. As with many of the problems wrought by modern life, we turn to technology for an answer, and increasingly our devices are establishing themselves as more than just a communication tool.
Wearing an Apple Watch for the past few months has been revelatory. I get much more exercise than I thought – most of it incidental – and my sleep isn’t too bad. My heart rate runs fast (but I already knew that) and when it starts skyrocketing I know it’s time to chill out.
Having this much insight about my body at my fingertips is fascinating, addictive even, and made me consider how we respond to this information, and whether it makes us feel better.
What are these devices telling us about our bodies and how is it helpful?
They provide up-to-the-minute metrics on our health and activity.
Exercise data is well known, and was one of the original selling points of products like the Apple Watch and its other wearable-tech peers; from steps and kilometres, to rings wearers are tasked with completing by their movements or “heart points”. .
Recent additions track our quality of sleep – a point of anxiety and obsession in modern life – and blood oxygen.
As the technology evolves, features are added to these devices and the scope of information widens, wearable tech is finding a wider audience of fans who see solutions to their problems.
People who live alone or feel isolated and vulnerable can find the connections offered by personal devices a literal lifeline.
“Loneliness is linked to depression and anxiety, weakened immune system, increased cardiovascular complications, cognitive decline, unhealthy behaviours (especially in men!), financial strain and overall reduced lifespan. That’s where devices can play a really helpful role,” explains wellness expert Amelia Phillips, a registered exercise scientist and nutritionist.
She highlights some particular features as providing reassurance – combatting the anxiety of ageing or living alone. “The health app is useful for medical ID, for allowing health data to be shared (opt-in of course),” Phillips says. “The Emergency SOS feature allows users to quickly call for help and alert emergency contacts.”
For those experiencing a different kind of risk related to isolation, Apple Watch has a Fall Detection feature – reassuring indeed for anyone’s who’s experienced a family member having an accident.
How is this changing our attitudes and behaviour?
Having all of this information at our fingertips, all the time, presents a new chapter for monitoring our health, and it’s impacting how much attention we’re paying to our bodies.
“Access to more detailed aspects of our health and habits is helping to keep health at the forefront of people’s minds. For example, understanding the amount of time we are sitting versus standing to minutes of exercise per day, to more detailed metrics such as heart rate variability (HRV – aka stress) and sleep stages. All of this feedback puts the power of health firmly in our own hands, and highlights how small, daily habits really add up over time and create our overall health picture.”
She’s keenly interested in how technology shapes our behaviour and societal trends, and has noticed three major key shifts.
- There’s a growing awareness of sitting hours, and the impact it can have on our health, and as smart watches track and reveal how much we stand. She’s noticed workplaces embracing standing desks, walking meetings and the popular “stand ups” convention.
- We also have a much deeper understanding of how we sleep. There’s an increased focus on not just the quantity of sleep but now the quality of it, with sleep tracking highlighting different sleep stages (eg REM and non-REM), heart rate and HRV.
- And apps like Flow are leading the way in helping women understand their menstrual cycle and track its patterns.
“The most recent shift has been in combining multiple metrics to create a more complete picture of health,” she says, pointing to Apple Watch’s Eclipse Yourself as an example. “I adjust my daily habits based on the feedback it gives me (eg if my readiness score is low, I prioritise more restorative habits).”
What should you be tracking, and how can it be beneficial?
“I always say ‘track it to tame it’. It is empowering to learn more about your body and health, it provides valuable feedback,” explains Phillips. “For example, tracking my sleep was the trigger for me to reduce my alcohol consumption drastically. When I saw the difference in my sleeping average heart rate on a night when I consume between one to three drinks (average heart rate around 80-90 bpm), versus non-drinking nights (50-60 bpm) and the negative impact it was having on my deep restorative sleep, I became a lot more motivated to abstain.”
All the different metrics – especially on a wearable device – can be overwhelming and it’s easy to get lost in data. So if you’re going to monitor anything, what should you be keeping tabs on?
- Sleep, of course, says Phillips. And movement, whether intentional or incidental, is key for Phillips, who recommends monitoring standing hours and exercise. “You can nerd out big time on all the metrics here. I start with focusing on the zones you spend the most time in (zone 2 is the most powerful for cardiovascular health).”
- Another big one for Phillips is HRV. “This is a metric not talked about enough yet so so powerful,” she says. “It is essentially a measurement of how stressed you are, or whether you are in a state of sympathetic (flight or fight) or parasympathetic (rest and digest). A high variability of the time between successive heartbeats is healthy, but when stressed, that variability drops. Personally, I track clients sleeping HRV as it’s a more consistent indicator of chronic stress.”
What do you do with all that data, and can you be too switched on?
So maybe (if you’re me) your Apple Watch keeps telling you to “stand” when you’re at work, your sleep is more broken than you realised, or (also me) you keep checking your higher-than-average heart rate.
It’s easy to get obsessed with numbers and checking your stats – especially in our metric-driven modern world, where so much success is aligned with numbers – so how can you maintain a healthy balance and avoid obsessing?
“There are a small number of people that become hyper-focused or fixated on set numbers, I don’t come across it as much as one might think,” says Phillips. “With those people I recommend cycling.
So they will have an “observational period” of two weeks where they learn and watch the data, followed by a period of resting their wearables and working more intuitively with their body. As with anything in life, we are aiming for balance and harmony. Too much of anything (even healthy things) isn’t good, so if a person can feel that obsessive pattern bubbling up, then cycle out for a while.”
After all, the original selling point of a watch was the fact you could put it on your wrist, and then take it off again.
Emma Gleason is the New Zealand Herald’s lifestyle and entertainment deputy editor (audience). Based in Auckland, she covers culture, media and how it impacts our lives, including digital burnout and whether our devices hold the key to creating boundaries, the warnings we should take from blockbuster films, and a health check on the state of our fashion industry.
Jessica Irvine is a tech enthusiast specializing in gadgets. From smart home devices to cutting-edge electronics, Jessica explores the world of consumer tech, offering readers comprehensive reviews, hands-on experiences, and expert insights into the coolest and most innovative gadgets on the market.
