Bringing a stress management device into a busy newsroom had the potential to go horribly wrong. Picture the scene: it’s half an hour from deadline, Greece and the euro zone appear to be teetering on the brink of something, and the editor is still waiting for the front page piece to land. Things are starting to look like everyone is in for a long night.
The perfect time to roll up to the desk with the Pip and ask to test the desk editor’s stress levels? In one way, yes, but probably not the ideal time for everyone involved.
Even when the device in question is really easy to use and comes with a few fun games to help you learn a few techniques to cope with stress.
So instead, I tested the Pip on myself around deadline time (spoiler: it’s accurate). I left the random stress testing of colleagues to different times throughout the day, mainly so people wouldn’t hide when they saw me coming.
This is how it works. The Pip measure electrodermal activity. When you get stressed, there are certain changes in the electrical properties of your skin. Apparently, your fingertips are particularly sensitive when measuring this, so the Pip requires you to hold your finger and thumb on two contact points. It will use its proprietary algorithms to display your stress levels in real time, feeding data into the app on your smartphone or tablet about eight times per second.
The basic Stress Tracker app reads your stress levels, displaying your stress levels as they fluctuate and dividing them into three colour: red for stress events, orange for steady events and green for relaxation.
The idea is that you can use techniques to help control your stress levels when you feel those tell-tale signs creeping up on you.
The good
It works. Even the most sceptical guinea pig in the office (I won't name names) was surprised by it. My first time out, the idea of monitoring my stress levels actually caused them to rise, but by the third or fourth time, you could see the difference when I was using breathing techniques (thanks, Groupon yoga deal) or after a few practice sessions on the two games apps that Pip's maker Galvanic has developed for Pip.
The device is subtle. It looks a little like a remote control fob, if a little flashier thanks to the gold plated sensors on the front and back. And setting it up is easy, with the device waking when you have your finger and thumb on both sensors.
The included games give a bit of a competitive edge to it. One – my favourite – is dragon racing. The more relaxed you are, the faster the dragon goes. It’s more fun if you have a second person to race against, but beating your own time is pretty great too.
The second, Loom, uses images and music to help you relax. You have to change a winter landscape to summer, simply by relaxing. That’s harder than you’d think, (“Why isn’t the tree growing? What’s wrong with it? What’s wrong with me?” [head explodes] ) but when the scene gradually changes, it’s fun to spot the differences as they happen.
The not-so-good
The aforementioned rise in stress levels when initially monitoring my stress levels felt a little counterproductive. Also, it made me a little more competitive than normal (what do you mean I’m not the most relaxed person in the office?). That’s more to do with me than the Pip though.
The rest
The idea is that others will come in and develop games and apps that use the Pip sensor. This is only getting started, so it will be interesting to see what others come up with.
The verdict ****
I haven’t been using the Pip long enough to make much of dent in my stress levels, but ask me again in six months how successful it’s been. But if you do want to try to learn to manage your stress, this handy little device is a good start.
