Galaxy S5 Heart Rate Sensor Now Judges your Stress Levels

The Galaxy S5 has a heart rate sensor. As expected, that sensor tells you your heart rate in beats per minute. You can track your heart rate over time and monitor changes in your health throughout the days, weeks, months, etc. The Galaxy S5 heart rate sensor’s app, S Health, recently received a software update that judges you based on your perceived stress. Instead of just looking at your heart rate, the new S Health uses heart rate information to make a judgment on your stress. It sounds like a gimmicky feature, but there is some science behind it. Basically, S Health knows your average heart rate. If your heart rate is abnormally high, then you move further right on the stress meter. If your heart rate is average, then you’re in the low to medium-stress range. Still, Samsung has emphasized that S Health is not a tool for medical professionals and is not “for clinical or medical use.” Instead, it’s a fun way to see if your heart rate is average, below average, or right where it should be. This feature could be fun to use or it could be really stressful. If you’re on a vacation and your S5 calls you “stressed”, does that mean it’s a failed vacation? If you have a really low stress rating during a major disaster situation does that mean you’re a sociopath? Who knows? But if you’re an S5 user, you’ll be able to have a lot more fun monitoring your stress levels in the near future.