This Startup Desires to Monitor the ‘Human Storm’ Earlier than It Turns into a Disaster
A biometric index is using wearable physiology to explore whether collective peace can be measured alongside traditional geopolitical indicators.
Can you actually measure inner peace? A new startup thinks so. The biometric analysis company In Truth unveiled their Biometric Global Peace Index this week with preliminary data showing how it plans to do just that.
“What it is, is a new instrument, a way for nations, cities, and communities to see the emotional state of their people and to know whether the things that they do to build peace are actually working,” Nicole Gibson, founder and CEO of In Truth, said at the announcement.
While there are early warning systems of things
While there are early warning systems of things like cyclones, there is no early warning system for the “human storm,” Jan Owen, the incoming Chairperson of the In Truth Foundation, said.
“Stress builds in families, in communities, in people, long before it breaks as a mental health crisis or as conflict. So we wait for the damage,” she said. “Most countries spend less than two percent of their health budgets on mental health, and almost all of that on emergencies. The Biometric Peace Index is the first sign that an early warning system for people is possible.”
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How the Index Was Built
Last month, In Truth held a Global Peace Activation in which populations from over 131 communities across the world had their heart rate and heart rate variability tracked via biometric data collection devices like Garmin watches, Whoop bands and Oura rings. The participants also journaled their experiences, which allowed researchers to categorize the vital signs into more specific emotions. This created Peace alignment scores, which measured in a range from 0-100, with 50 being an average state.
Peace is basically where calm, as measured
“Peace is basically where calm, as measured by the physiology, meets pleasantness, as measured by the journaling,” Andy Heusser, In Truth’s chief of science and AI, told Inc.
During the activation, all participants took part in a coordinated meditation, and data showed that average Peace Alignment Scores rose from 50 to 80. This preliminary data shows proof of concept that peace, as In Truth defines it, can be measured on a circumplex, or axis of deactivation and activation, and pleasantness and unpleasantness.
Source: www.inc.com
