Biometric data gives your feelings a voice.

Understanding human stress has long depended on controlled laboratory studies. In these settings, researchers can isolate variables, track physiological responses, and test the impact of specific stressors with precision. Yet, real life is messy. Stress arises from unpredictable environments, such as social dynamics, daily pressures, and sudden triggers, that no lab can fully replicate.

This is where Kinetic Analysis plays a pivotal role. It bridges the gap between what we learn under ideal laboratory conditions and what actually happens in the real world. Today, with the growing availability of wearables and multimodal biometric sensing, stress detection can finally move beyond the lab and into the flow of daily life.

A Smarter Way to Detect Stress

There is a wide range of validated methods for stress detection, using signals such as GSR, skin temperature, heart rate, and respiration.

We introduce a rule-based algorithm built specifically for real-world use, combining:

• Galvanic Skin Response

• Skin Temperature Heat-Flux

  
  

Supported by earlier work with heart rate and lung-health data, the algorithm blends empirical findings with expert knowledge for reliable stress detection in everyday environments. This enhances understanding of when and why physiological stress arises—outside the lab and within daily life.

Real-World Applications

Our stress-detection system supports a wide range of real-world environments. In corporate settings, accurate wearables help employees understand their stress patterns and optimise daily performance, including during high-pressure pitch trainings. For smart cities, aggregated biometric data offers urban planners objective insights into how people experience public spaces, enabling data-driven improvements in comfort and well-being. In nursing homes, a real-time stress-patch alerts caregivers when a resident’s stress rises, allowing early intervention and more personalised care.

Relevant links:

• Project Page