up next shift living in the digital age with a look at digital mood tracking don't forget you can stay up to date with all the latest headlines on our website dot com and follow us on twitter and instagram i'm michael okun in berlin for meaning time team here thanks for watching. we've got some hot tips for your bucket list. and your corner. class comfort food. and some great cultural memorials to boot. w.h.y. we go to. the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. has the rate of infection been developing. measures are being taken.

what does the latest research say. information and context. the coronavirus up to the code with special monday to friday on w. according to with fitness took i've already taken $2628.00 steps today and i got 7 hours of deep sleep that's about average this devise can even determine my mood seriously but is that really a good thing how healthy is self optimization autopsy today on shift. do i get enough exercise to eat the right food have i had enough water today.

relaxed enough according to a recent survey about 33 percent of the global population has already tried out digital health trackers the market for fitness wearables has tripled since 2017 and it looks set to grow much more say experts why are we so obsessed with self improvement and is there something wrong with us not according to a psychologist you would have mongst off. the principle self optimization is a part of developing further which is one of the human fundamental needs it's a part of all of us but there is a difference when we talk about self optimization this entails reaching optimum capacity. and this is often linked to self value and status. we try to get fitter and eat better to improve our bodies but what about our minds well also apps and gadgets that contract our mental well being and in these times

of crisis many are starting to use such trackers but how do they work i took a closer look. no question the world is asked more often it's also what i've been asking myself for days now i've been using delio to track my mood in the morning at midday and in the evening i can choose from 5 emotions this morning i would say that i'm good. i tell delio what i'm doing how i'm feeling and the app translates the data into statistics. then i'll hold the riot triggers available online they are almost like digital diaries a place to record on the road and a cavity. but some evaluate this information and draw conclusions about psychological health. can't really analyze he uses. a person can have so many different emotions. feelings are very complex and these

apps can simplify complex matters in such a way that they might end up being not useful. delio can only track my mood when i'm using it actively it doesn't know what happens in between and that information doesn't turn up in the statistics. i don't think the ad was that useful for me personally but it could be helpful to record one's daily activity in order to recognize certain patterns but to do so you already have to know yourself quite well. that take other factors into account quite a bit. now that i'm in the office it's time for the next test feel wristbands can measure the sweat on the user's skin this information will be linked to mood related data. i will input my mood into the app now that's a joyous because i get to see my colleagues the respond wanted to some biometric

data on my blood pressure for example and translates them into emotional patterns and will recognize them when i'm joyous in the future. i don't know how precise these measurements are but on the basis of my responses to questions about concrete situations be able to propose certain mindfulness exercises there are all kinds of variables such as these on the market now some claim that they can recognize a use emotions through their voice others detect and measure brain activity all these headbands wristbands wrings measure physical data and give advice on how to improve mental health some even say that they can help people to overcome depression but you did mangle stuff has some warning words in this regard. we should remember that we should never transfer responsibility for our own life and psychological wellbeing or health to a digital app it can be helpful to use them but it's very important not to use them responsibly. and to be aware of the risks that afflicts. after work i

like to switch off and this news had been says it can help according to the makers use a 7 sensors to detect the brain's electrical activity which it then transforms into understandable experiences so the user can wind down and meditate if i'm not calm i will hear sounds of a storm which will remind me to concentrate on my breathing if i'm feeling calm i will heal. i can hear some very light rain and some wind. and from time to time the earth chirping that indicates that i'm really relaxed right now over. what i'm talking to when it's getting heavy on the rim there's a real truth so i think a bit of concentrated. i would say that a new trick is going to help people to go about their everyday life in a more mindful way but it is important to not relinquish full control and to not

take the exercises they prescribe too seriously i doubt that such gadgets can really have uses with serious mental health issues for now people can still decide themselves whether they want to use these quantified self apps and devices but what if they didn't have a choice what if their employers ordered them to use a move tracker. lots of work multitasking and difficult exercises this is daily life tiny a startup based in. the founders vision of the future is one where employees only receive as much work as they can actually carry out the idea is that software should a lot their workload automatically so that the software can do this well you have to wear a device that measures the polls all the time and there's a camera that films their faces the idea is to measure their stress levels and emotional states and the workload can be calculated. it is one of the developers he says he's. not interested in surveillance or storing data but in the well.

is of twitter this can be described as the perfect state between the feeling of being under challenge billboard and the opposite which is being stressed and swamped that place in between when someone is challenged can cope with the task in hand is flight flow. but do we really want a world in which software can get such a deep insight into an employee's emotional state phillip slow select from the german research center for artificial intelligence things not. then that. we don't want a situation in which such software leads to the surveillance of employees with the result that someone might be fired if they don't perform adequately or if they're going through a rough patch personally and the system detects with subsequent negative consequences this has to be prevented. at this munich startup employees have to actively agree to be tracked but will this always be the case

these systems force people to share intimate information how is the data used and by whom. of course apps must collect data to quantify progress for example in health related research apple has collaborated with academics and published a variety of studies based on data collected by volunteers and their smart watches it might sound like a win win situation but i'm not so sure about giving that bunch of personal information to a private company. health out as trackers collecting data when users are sleeping eating and exercising but they also gather other information for example regarding location users often have no idea what is done with their data benedict is a lawyer who says the terms of use are frequently formulated in a very vague way. many companies are just connecting information and don't even know what they want to do with it but sooner or later there will be some kind of

commercial use of the data right now data is already being sold for targeted advertising to certain groups and individuals and health insurance companies are also very interested in such data some of them are already offering cheaper rates to policyholders who agree to track their own health related data the system for this is great for those who are healthy it's not so great for those who are not in the end it leads to people being selected according to their risks to the. user should think very carefully about the amount of personal information they're willing to divulge just stops data protection is obviously a big issue but do the apps even do what they say they will there are all kinds of new fitness apps and gadgets flooding the market they're supposed to encourage users to exercise more without a trainer but do they really work. there's a wealth of research into the question of whether it makes a difference if

a person uses an app and tracks their activity or not and so far what it's shown is that it makes a huge difference to people's motivation many are more likely to commit themselves to their health and stick to it if they track their activity and see visible progress but it is not yet been proven that this actually makes an impact on health and whether users really do more exercise we just don't know that yet. let's listen in. addition some fitness apps can actually increase the risk of physical damage artificial intelligence and instruction videos can help people tailor physical activity to their own needs so that people are more likely to hurt themselves if they do the exercises wrongly and can't ask a real life instructor for advice. if a user wants to do something right there is a lot of work involved trainer will happen so it's an experience that i'm. trainers

made of flesh and blood still have an important role to play. and that doesn't just go for fitness apps even small devices can have huge drawbacks a friend of mine wanted to track all the stages obviously to optimize a sleeping pattern but he got so stressed out by the whole process that in the end he couldn't sleep at all and that might be helpful for some but not for others it's very important to find the one that's right for you this is what the expert says. just an individual or person is unique and not even the best all the highly individualized elements that make a person and help them to develop an app make suggestions based on aggregated data so it can never be tailored precisely to just one individual basically no user should ever follow is just blindly but always ask whether it really makes sense for

them personally. however for a person in crisis any kind of support is better than none at all so even if it would make more sense to talk to a professional and help with at least give an indication of the direction somebody wants to move in and how they might want to develop so i would say use the apps but make sure you always question their advice. about. hard. what about you have you used fitness apps and have they helped you reach your goals. on social media on d w dot com if you want to find out more about these gadgets check out our you tube channel for now and.

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