There is now an app and bracelet that will tell you which of your friends stress you out. Fast Company reported that the app, named Pplkpr (vowels are sooo 2012), will monitor users' heart rates to alert them if certain interactions are more agitating than others. Users wear a Fitbit-like bracelet that keeps track of these physical reactions (like that one episode of Sherlockbut not as sexy). The creators, Lauren McCarthy and Kyle McDonald, say that in a world where people can like/dislike things on social media they should be able to categorize real life interactions the same way. They even go so far as to say wearers can use the data from this app as an excuse not to hang out with certain people.
I too can recommend a system for weeding toxic, annoying people from your life. It's called Common Fucking Sense. When did we become so out of tune with our bodies and our own friends that we needed our phone to tell us who we want to pal around with? When did we all become Data from Star Trek ?
Pplkpr's creators are smarter people than I am — I have no idea how to make a heart-rate reading bracelet thing, I'll give them that. But I think an app like this just creates more walls between people. One day soon the only way we'll have real human interactions is when we occasionally bump into each other on the street because we were too busy looking at our devices, and that will only really happen when our "Don't Bump Into Other People" app is malfunctioning.
If you don't like some of your friends, stop being friends with them. If someone bothers you, don't hang out with them. Simple as that. If you wear a dorky app bracelet and cancel dates because a gadget told you to, you will be able to easily avoid everyone — because no one will want to hang out with such a weirdo.
Go outside, kids.
[via Jezebel and Fast Company]
Image via pplkpr
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