April 29, 2025
How Garmin SmartWatches promotes joint health innovation.
Understanding the effects of stress on the body is important to creating effective health interventions. Below we present three research projects that show how all-day stress tracking using a compatible Garmin smartwatch can provide insight into the physical fight or flight response to stressors and support collaborative work to advance health outcomes. Learn more about Garmin stress tracking techniques.
The research will analyze biometric authentication of offshore wind industry workers
Tum Universityhospital, Telemedicinecenter, Munich, Germany
the study: Researchers have collected biometric data from Garmin SmartWatch from wind industry workers to help support industry best practices for health and safety, reduce risk and increase efficiency.
Garmin’s Factors: Fifty offshore workers wore GarminVenu® smartwatches for 28 days. Health indexes such as heart rate variability (HRV), stress, sleep patterns and quality1 They were collected and participants completed a daily happiness survey. Researchers at Telemedicine Center monitored participants’ vital signs 24/7 using the Garmin Health SDK to gain valuable insight into how participants responded to their 14-day shifts.
the goal: The researchers aim to prove this method as a powerful way to reveal how offshore workers physically respond to challenging environments. Future stages will identify and test predictive health markers, unlocking the possibility that real-time alerts will tackle health risks associated with offshore life.
Study uses smartwatch heart rate data to predict emotional responses
National Central University, Taiwan (NCU)
the study: NCU researchers have created the MindFit app to improve mental health and well-being. The app uses AI models to predict emotions based on HRV data collected by Garmin SmartWatches and Personal Mood Journal entries.
Garmin’s Factors: Using Garmin Health Companion SDK and Forerunner 255 smartwatch, Raw Beat-to-beat interval Data were used to determine participants’ HRV. Individuals recorded moods in the MindFit app developed in the NCU, and their own AI models predicted emotions based on objective and subjective data. This study integrated the language model to provide participants with real-time support or encouragement messages.
the goal: Researchers hope that mood tracking apps can help reduce emotional fluctuations and increase personal psychological well-being by helping to focus on happiness, happiness and positivity instead of mental illness, maladaptive behavior and negative thoughts.
Northeastern and Dartmouth research tests Garminwearable as a reliable solution for clinical trial research
Ubiquitous Computing for Dartmouth College’s Center for Technology and Behavioral Health, Northeastern University’s U.S. Health and Welfare Lab (UBIWELL)
the study: A recent study conducted by Dartmouth and Northeastern University determined that Garmin smartwatches produced reliable health data in a variety of settings, including clinical populations.
“Studies on stress detection have shown that the Garmin Forerunner®55 provides valuable HRV insights and is an excellent alternative to ECG-based research-grade devices using PPG,” says Varun Mishra, assistant professor of computer science and health sciences at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.
Garmin’s Factors: Thirty-five study participants wore precursor 55 watches to assess the reliability of capturing stress levels and to build an effective context-recognition model for detecting stress in real-world settings. Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the project aims to understand how to manage stress levels, including stress management, evaluate ways that individuals can improve stress management, and ultimately help reduce the risk of anxiety, depression, smoking and drug use.
the goal: The project’s researchers wanted to demonstrate the effectiveness and affordability of Garmin wearables and the health functioning of the health in a clinical trial environment.
result: Researchers have discovered that the Forerunner 55 is worn and easy to use, allowing for recording raw sensor data with an impressive battery life. The researchers also determined that Garmin Smartwatch, when combined with the Garmin Health SDK, is an affordable solution for meaningful research and helps attract other researchers to use reliable Garmin wearables in their clinical trial spaces.
Can Garmin SmartWatch Technology and the Garmin Health Connected ecosystem play an important role in the next health or clinical research? Please contact us today To find out more.
For more information about related projects, please visit www.garmin.com/Third-Party-Studies-overview. All information about research and clinical trials can be found here.
1See garmin.com/ataccuracy
