The science
of NOWATCH
NOWATCH measures all your key health metrics but is focused on what is often the underlying cause of all health issues – stress.
By building stress resilience you don’t just manage the symptoms.You address the common root cause, making it a powerful approach to preventative health.
STRESS
Your built-in regulatory system
Stress is natural and necessary. It’s your body's regulatory system, constantly fine-tuning itself to meet everyday demands, helping you focus, adapt, and perform when needed.
Autonomic Nervous System
Stress serves as an important health indicator, showing how well your body is functioning.
By monitoring your physiological stress responses, you can gain insights into your overall health. These responses manifest through your autonomic nervous system, which mainly consists of the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system.
When awake, a healthy body spends most time in homeostasis—what NOWATCH calls the "Calm Zone." Homeostasis is your body's natural state of equilibrium between parasympathetic and sympathetic activity, where systems work efficiently without excess strain.
Autonomic Nervous System
responding to daily life demands
Autonomic Nervous System responding to daily life demands
Sympathetic Nervous System
Fight-or-flight
Increases reactivity, preparing you to meet threats that require immediate action.
Parasympathetic Nervous System
Rest or digest
Decreases reactivity to focus on background processes such as cell renewal, recovery, and digestion.
The Stress Gauge
NOWATCH's Stress Gauge continuously monitors your autonomic nervous system’s response to daily life, clearly distinguishing physical activity from stress—whether psychological (like pre-presentation anxiety) or physiological (such as an illness).
Currently, the Stress Gauge is based on a robust analysis of your heart rate and movement patterns. NOWATCH deliberately excludes daily Heart Rate Variability (HRV) from its calibration process because it is known to be unsuitable for daily life continuous monitoring and we’re committed to providing only precise, reliable health metrics.
How to interpret your Stress Gauge
How to interpret your Stress Gauge
IMPACT
From minor responses to major health risks
Everyday stress may seem minor, but repeated or prolonged exposure adds up.
Overloaded system
Everyday stress may seem minor, but repeated or prolonged exposure adds up.
Everyday stress may seem minor, but repeated or prolonged exposure adds up.
When your body activates its fight-or-flight response, essential maintenance functions like digestion are put on hold as resources are redirected toward addressing the threat.
If persistent, this continued pressure on the system heightens the risk not just weakened immunity, inflammation, and accelerated aging, but also mental health issues like anxiety and depression, and chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and irritable bowel syndrome.
Everyday stress adds up
did you know?
Stress doesn’t just affect your health, it also affects your relationships and your career.
In fact, people who report experiencing more stress miss an average of 24 more days of work a year due to stress, and their children are more likely to develop mental health issues.
NOWATCH tracks your health's early warning system
Like anything, both too much and too little stress signal that something is off. Stress acts as an early warning signal preceding the development of most diseases.
Understand the true pressure on your stress system through metrics that actually predict health outcomes.
Stress Duration
The load on your system
The time your body spends reactive (i.e. in fight or flight) due to stress. This key metric shows how much pressure your body is under, regardless of stress intensity. More time stressed means less time in your natural more restorative "Calm Zone".
Stress Recovery
Your ability to bounce back
How quickly you return to baseline after stress. Slow recovery extends physiological reactivity, and therefore increases your stress duration. A resilient system bounces back quickly; a strained one takes longer.
Stress Frequency
Your sensitivity to stress
How often you experience stress reactions throughout the day. High frequency indicates greater sensitivity, where even minor trigger a response.
RESILIENCE
NOWATCH fosters your mental and physical resilience
By building stress resilience you can avoid overloading your system and decrease the risk of developing a wide host of diseases.
Stress resilience
Keep in mind that stress resilience doesn't mean eliminating or avoiding stress— resilience is your ability to adapt positively to stressful circumstances.
A resilient stress response
system can
- Activate quickly when needed (to help you focus or perform)
- Return to baseline efficiently once the stressor has passed
- Coordinate effectively between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity
- Adapt over time to become less sensitive to minor stressors
NOWATCH builds your resilience
