監測壓力大小的可穿戴設備靠譜嗎

Research has long shown that stress is bad for you, but many people are not even aware when they are feeling stressed.

研究早已證明壓力對人有害，但很多人都對自己身受的壓力一無所覺。

Now, a number of new devices are sold as stress trackers, measuring signs of stress the way fitness tracking devices monitor steps and movement. The gadgets track the biological symptoms of stress — changes in skin perspiration, breathing patterns and heart rate — in hopes of helping people become aware of their stress levels.

近期上市的一些新設備號稱可以像健身跟蹤設備監測步伐和運動那樣監測壓力的體徵。這些小玩意可以追蹤人在受到壓力時的生理症狀——皮膚排汗、呼吸模式和心率的變化，以期幫助人們瞭解自己的壓力水平。

One of them is Spire, a stonelike device that clips to a belt or bra and senses the expansion and contraction of the chest cavity during breathing. The device, which retails for $149.95, sends phone notifications when it detects a change in breathing patterns that may indicate stress. “Your breathing suggests you’re stressed,” it says. “Take a deep breath.”

Spire就是其中之一。這種小裝置零售價爲149.95美元，形狀好像一塊石頭，可以別在皮帶上或卡在文胸上，感知呼吸時胸腔的擴張和收縮。當它檢測到你的呼吸模式發生了改變——表明你可能受到壓力時，就會發送手機通知給你。“你的呼吸顯示你感到有壓力，”它會這麼說。“來做個深呼吸吧”。

The Pip stress manager ($179 retail) uses electrical changes at the surface of the skin to measure an individual’s stress response. The user holds the teardrop-shaped device between the thumb and forefinger and the device collects data and analyzes it with charts and graphs that monitor stress on a given day or across weeks or months to find patterns, such as what time of day is most stressful for you.

Pip壓力管理設備（零售價爲179美元）利用人體皮膚表面的電變化來衡量人的應激反應。用戶只要用拇指和食指捏住這個淚滴狀的設備，它就可以收集數據，分析某一特定日子或者數週乃至數月內的壓力並生成圖表，並找到其中的模式所在，譬如你在一天中的什麼時間最緊張之類。

The downside of most devices is that while breathing patterns and skin sweat certainly can signal stress, they can also indicate a range of emotions and activities. Physiologically, there is not much difference between the stress of a work deadline and the excitement of watching your favorite sports team. Even going for a brisk walk stimulates a similar response from the sympathetic nervous system, which runs the body’s fight or flight mechanism. The same thing occurs in certain stages of sleep.

不過，這類設備大多存在一個缺點：雖然呼吸和皮膚排汗模式無疑都是壓力的信號，但它們也可能是多種其他情緒和活動的反映。從生理上來說，工作的截止期限給你的壓力與你在觀看最喜歡的隊伍比賽時的興奮之間並沒有太大的區別。即使是輕快地散步也會刺激你的交感神經系統（它控制着人體的“戰或逃”機制）產生類似的反應。在睡眠的某些階段也是如此。

Most apps and devices that claim to track or reduce stress lack scientific rigor, said Dr. Rosalind Picard, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, who straps stress monitors onto the wrists of visitors to her Cambridge office.

大多數自稱可以追蹤或減少壓力的應用程序和設備都缺乏科學嚴謹性，麻省理工學院(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)媒體實驗室(Media Lab)的教授羅莎琳德·皮卡德(Rosalind Picard)博士說道。她喜歡給造訪她在坎布里奇(Cambridge，麻省理工學院所在地)的辦公室的訪客們在手腕上綁上壓力監測器。

It is hard to objectively determine someone’s stress in the real world — accounting for individual variation, diets, lifestyles, medication and other environmental factors, Dr. Picard said, adding, “If you want to learn about human variability, measure stress.”

皮卡德博士表示，在現實世界中要客觀地判斷一個人的壓力水平十分困難，你需要考慮到個體差異、飲食、生活方式、藥物和其他環境因素等，她又補充道：“如果你想知道人身上有多少變數的話，不妨試試測定壓力吧。”

But that has not stopped Dr. Picard from trying. She is chief scientist at Empatica, which will soon release its $199 Embrace watch. It takes stress monitoring a step further than most by tracking skin temperature, movement, sleep, respiration, heart rate, heart rate variability and skin conductance, a measure of electrical charge that reflects changes in arousal. The watch vibrates when it detects a rising stress level. (The device is also designed to alert people with epilepsy of an impending seizure.)

但是，這並沒有阻止皮卡德博士嘗試的腳步。她是Empatica的首席科學家，該公司很快將發佈Empatica手錶，售價199美元。這種設備在壓力監測方面比大多數同類產品更勝一籌，因爲它跟蹤了皮膚溫度、運動、睡眠、呼吸、心率、心率變異性和皮膚電導性（反映喚起狀態變化的一種電荷指標）。當手表檢測到壓力水平上升時就會振動（該裝置也設計用於警告人即將癲癇發作）。

Neumitra, a start-up based in Boston, is scheduled to release a watchlike stress tracker early next year, but has not released pricing details. The device, said the company’s chief executive, Robert Goldberg, will turn people into “citizen scientists,” feeding the tracker’s algorithm to make it smarter about what’s causing their arousal.

總部設在波士頓的初創公司Neumitra計劃明年初發布一款類似於智能手錶的壓力跟蹤器，但尚未透露定價細節。公司的首席執行官羅伯特·戈德堡(Robert Goldberg)表示，該設備可令用戶化身“平民科學家”，爲跟蹤器的算法提供資料，使其更加智能地解讀出是什麼導致他們被喚起。

If someone consistently shows signs of stress when heading to a particular client’s office or when driving on the highway, the tracker may link them to their favorite tunes or lead them through breathing exercises to help reduce their stress.

如果某人在前往特定客戶的辦公室時或者在高速公路上駕駛時一再現出壓力跡象，跟蹤器就會播放他喜愛的音樂，或是引導他進行呼吸練習以幫助他緩解壓力。

Dr. Picard said she has worked with teachers who changed their approach when stress monitors showed their students’ anxiety triggers. One father had a long conversation with his son when a monitor repeatedly showed the boy felt more anxious around him. And Dr. Picard said she changed her own response to Boston traffic after an earlier version of her tracking device showed her how much she was letting other drivers get to her.

皮卡德博士說，曾與她合作過的教師們在壓力監測器揭示出引發學生焦慮的誘因後，改變了他們的教學方法。一位父親發現壓力監測器多次提示只要自己在場兒子就會感到更加焦慮不安，其後就與兒子進行了一番長談。皮卡德博士說，自從她的老版壓力跟蹤器表明她是多麼容易受到其他司機的影響，她就改變了自己對波士頓交通的態度。

“I am a much more relaxed driver now,” she said.

“現在我是一個更輕鬆的司機了，”她說。

Researchers at Microsoft in Redmond, Wash., are testing how to deliver useful stress reduction tips. In one monthlong study, participants were instructed to do positive activities on their phone, like going to their Facebook timeline and looking for three people, objects or events they are thankful for.

位於美國華盛頓州雷德蒙德市的微軟公司的研究人員正在測試如何提供有益的減壓技巧。在爲期一個月的研究中，參與者被告知要利用手機做一些積極的活動，例如訪問Facebook時間線，並從中尋找三個他們感激的人、物或事件等。

“Maybe what you need to do is teach people a little bit and get out of their way,” said Dr. Mary Czerwinski, who is leading that study and is a research manager at Microsoft. “And maybe after a couple of months, if their stress levels are going up, maybe pop back in and remind them of what it was.”

“也許你只需要給人們一點點的教導，剩下的就交給他們自己好了，”微軟的研究經理、該研究項目的負責人瑪麗·切爾文斯基(Mary Czerwinski)博士說。“也許是在一兩個月後他們的壓力水平再度擡頭時，回去再提個醒。”

But sometimes telling a person that he or she is stressed may end up just causing more stress. Dr. Czerwinski once worked with a study volunteer who got upset when tracking devices indicated that he was stressed. “No machine can know when I’m stressed better than I know I’m stressed,” the volunteer said angrily.

但有時候，告知一個人的壓力水平只會讓他更有壓力。在切爾文斯基博士曾經參與過的一項研究中，當跟蹤設備提醒志願者他很焦慮不安時，他的心情更糟糕了。他惱火地說道：“我比任何機器都更清楚自己壓力很大！”

Some device makers are working to incorporate stress reduction into the device itself. Thync Inc. of Boston and Los Gatos, Calif., makes a headset that retails for $199 and uses nerve stimulation that claims to “recharge your mood,” provide calm, focus and energy, and promote sleep. The device creates an electrical circuit between the right temple and the back of the neck, modulating nerves on the head, face and neck, which are involved in sensory processing and mood. One level of stimulation is designed to reduce stress; a different level can reportedly stir feelings of bliss.

一些設備製造商正致力於讓設備本身兼具減壓功能。位於波士頓和加州洛思加圖斯的Thync Inc.生產了一款耳機（零售價199美元），號稱可利用神經刺激“調適你的情緒”，令你平靜、專注且精力充沛以及有助於促進睡眠。該設備可在右側太陽穴與脖子後部產生電迴路，調節頭部、面部及頸部參與感覺處理和情緒的神經。其中一個級別的刺激用於減輕壓力，另一個不同級別的刺激據稱可以激起幸福感。

The only studies showing Thync’s success have come from the company itself, which has tested the device in about 4,000 people, said Dr. Jamie Tyler, a co-founder and the chief science officer.

能證明Thync成功的所有研究都來自該公司自己。其聯合創始人、首席科學官傑米·泰勒(Jamie Tyler)博士稱他們已在約4000人身上測試了這種設備。

Dr. Picard and Dr. Czerwinski said they remained skeptical that any currently available device could act on the body to reduce stress. Instead, Dr. Picard said she prefers a low-tech way of responding to her own anxiety: She gets up and goes for a short walk.

皮卡德博士和切爾文斯基博士都表示，他們仍對任何現有設備可作用於人體，並切實減輕壓力持懷疑態度。皮卡德博士倒覺得應對焦慮問題，自己更傾向於使用低技術含量的方式：起身去散散步。

“It’s not only less expensive” than any device, she said, “but it’s probably better for my whole body, not just my brain.”

“這樣不僅是比任何設備都更便宜”，她說，“而且很可能對我的頭腦乃至整個身體都更有益。”