Developer Creates Tool to Track Which Coworkers Stress Him Out Using Whoop Wearable and Calendar Data
Pankaj Tanwar, a software developer in India, built a tool that connects his Whoop heart-rate wearable to his work calendar to identify which colleagues and meetings cause him the most stress. The project uses AI to extract per-minute heart-rate data and match spikes to specific meeting attendees, creating a ranked leaderboard. The experiment exemplifies a broader trend of developers building quirky, personalized software tools using AI coding models.
Pankaj Tanwar, a Bengaluru-based software developer, created a custom application that links his Whoop health-tracking wristband to his work calendar to determine which coworkers raise his heart rate the most during meetings. He used Anthropic's Claude AI models to reverse-engineer the Whoop device and extract per-minute heart-rate data, then matched heart-rate spikes with calendar events and attendees to generate a ranked leaderboard. The project gained significant attention on social media, with Tanwar's post on X receiving over 10 million views. While Tanwar noted the results were unsurprising, he acknowledged that heart-rate variations can stem from multiple factors beyond colleague interactions, including meeting topics, time of day, and eating habits. The experiment reflects a growing trend of developers using AI to rapidly prototype personalized software solutions for specific problems.
What's missing
Neither source addresses potential privacy or ethical concerns regarding tracking and ranking coworkers' perceived stress impact, or whether Tanwar obtained consent from colleagues whose data was analyzed.
How coverage differed
Business Insider emphasizes the broader 'coding boom' and Tanwar's creative personality, highlighting his other quirky projects and his use of AI tools. TechRadar frames it more as a 'hack' and 'reverse engineering' feat, focusing on the technical achievement and its implications for AI capabilities, while also more explicitly noting the scientific limitations of using heart rate as a stress proxy.
What different sources said
- TechRadarCenter
Someone hacked his Whoop to see which of his colleagues raised his stress levels the most and I need this immediately
- Business InsiderLeft
A coder connected his Whoop to his work calendar to create a leaderboard of coworkers who stressed him out
- Business InsiderLeft
A coder connected his Whoop to his work calendar to create a leaderboard of coworkers who stressed him out
- News18Center
‘Interesting Idea’: Bengaluru Techie Uses Fitness Tracker To Find Which Coworker Causes Him The Most Stress
- IndulgexpressCenter
Bengaluru techie tracks which colleague stresses him out the most and goes viral!
- Storyboard18Center
Bengaluru techie uses fitness tracker data to rank colleagues by stress levels
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