Why BioSensors?
I’m not a health tech expert. But I’ve always been fascinated by how much our bodies are constantly telling us—if we just learn to listen.
For this prototype, I used:
- A pulse sensor for heart rate variability (HRV)
- A GSR (Galvanic Skin Response) module to measure skin conductance (a proxy for stress)
- An Arduino-compatible board for data collection
I wasn’t after clinical accuracy. I just wanted to observe patterns. And you’d be surprised how much two basic sensors can reveal when you start listening.
The App Side: Why React Native?
I chose React Native because:
- I already live in the JavaScript ecosystem
- It supports cross-platform development
- I could move fast without diving into native SDKs
The first version was hilariously rough—think neon-red UI that looked like it came from a hacker flick. But it worked. It showed real-time HRV and GSR data, and when both spiked together, a huge “STRESS LEVEL: HIGH” warning flashed red.
Dramatic? Yes.
Accurate? Often enough.
Useful? Definitely.
BLE: Beautiful and Brutal
If you think Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) makes hardware-to-mobile communication easy in 2025, think again.
- Pairing worked half the time.
- The other half, I was restarting my app, toggling Bluetooth, and cursing under my breath.
- Debugging BLE issues? Painful.
But eventually, thanks to React Native BLE libraries and religious logging, I got the connection semi-stable.
Pro tip: Log everything. BLE is unpredictable without logs.
Designing for People, Not Just Data
This was unexpected: I fell in love with the UX side of this.
Stress isn’t just a number. It’s a feeling. And feelings are complicated.
I asked myself:
- What does stress feel like in color or shape?
- Would alerts help—or overwhelm me further?
- Should the app calm me down or just inform me?
Eventually, I stripped things down to:
- One clean dashboard
- A real-time stress indicator
- A scrollable mini timeline
- A big button that says “Take a Breather”
Tapping that launched a calming animation and a simple breathing timer.
I used it more than I expected. It became my pause button.
What the Data Taught Me
Wearing the prototype daily taught me things I didn’t know I needed to learn:
Stress spikes?
- Right before Monday meetings
- Late-night debugging sessions
- Scrolling Twitter (every. single. time.)
Stress dips?
- Short walks after lunch
- Reading real, physical books
- Mid-day unplugged breaks
Seeing it visually? It made the invisible, visible.
Stress became tangible—something I could observe, respond to, and even change.
Would I Recommend Building This?
Absolutely.
You don’t need perfect hardware. You don’t need flawless data.
What matters is building something that makes you more aware of yourself.
There’s something rare and fulfilling about building a piece of tech that helps you notice your own humanity.
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Final Thoughts: When Tech Helps You Listen
I still wear the prototype sometimes.
The band’s fraying. The app crashes occasionally. But I love it.
It reminds me that meaningful tech doesn’t always come from Silicon Valley or startups—it sometimes comes from staring at your screen at 2AM, wondering why you feel so overwhelmed, and deciding to build something that helps you understand why.
So go build that weird wellness app.
Strap sensors to your wrist.
Track what your body’s trying to tell you before it has to scream.
Because burnout doesn’t knock—it whispers.
And noticing it early might just change everything.
