Validation of wearables for electrodermal activity (EdaMove) and heart rate (Wahoo Tickr)

We are interested in monitoring physiology out of the lab because of its potential informative value about mental state, such as stress. For real life studies or applications utilizing physiology, we need to equip individuals with wearables that are designed to be compatible with individuals performing their daily activities, which can come at the cost of a reduction in signal quality. In the current study, we compare wearable sensors of electrodermal activity (EdaMove) and heart rate (Wahoo Tickr) to their high-end, laboratory counterparts (ActiveTwo). Signals were compared at a general level as well as in relation to their response to emotional sounds. EdaMove showed more general drift and responses returned slower to baseline than ActiveTwo. Responses to emotional sounds were about equally clear as ActiveTwo. Apart from a delay of around 6.7 seconds, Wahoo Ticker accurately recorded general heart rate levels. However, it did not capture fast changes which also resulted in less clear responses to emotional sounds. Both wearables are potentially suitable to record physiology in real life, but for synchrony recordings, EdaMove is expected to be suitable whereas results based on Wahoo Tickr are expected to be less clear.