Developer creates stress leaderboard using WHOOP to rank which coworkers raise his heart rate most

Which coworker stresses you out most? This WHOOP user built a stress leaderboard

While far from scientifically perfect, the experiment showcases a creative and unexpected use of AI, and wearable data. Every workplace has its share of stressful personalities. If none of your coworkers come to mind, there's a chance your colleagues have you on their list instead. One WHOOP user put that exact idea to the test, using wearable data to uncover the biggest sources of his workplace stress. The results were both amusing and surprisingly insightful. By combining data from his WHOOP fitness tracker with his work calendar, Pankaj Tanwar created a system that identifies which colleagues are most closely linked to spikes in his heart rate. This eventually led him to a personal "stress leaderboard" that ranks coworkers based on how much stress they appear to cause during meetings. He shared the experiment on X, posting a screenshot of the leaderboard while wisely keeping everyone's identities hidden. The dashboard breaks down meetings using metrics such as heart-rate increases, stress scores, and cumulative impact over time. According to Tanwar, the project was powered by Claude's new Fable model alongside some custom code. To make it work, he reverse-engineered parts of WHOOP's system to access minute-by-minute heart rate data, something the wearable doesn't normally expose to users at that level of detail. He then cross-referenced those readings with calendar events and attendee lists to identify which meetings consistently coincided with elevated heart rates. The leaderboard doesn't just single out potential stressors. Some coworkers appear largely neutral, while others are associated with calmer readings, effectively earning a reputation as the office's stress reducers. It all turned a simple collection of biometric data into an unexpectedly entertaining snapshot of workplace dynamics. Naturally, there are plenty of variables that can affect heart rate beyond a particular coworker. A rushed walk to a meeting room, climbing stairs between floors, an extra cup of coffee, or even a sugary snack could all raise readings. Several commenters noted that physiological data without context can only tell part of the story. Even so, that's not really what makes this experiment interesting. The leaderboard probably isn't a scientifically rigorous measure of workplace stress, but it is a creative example of what can happen when wearable data, coding skills, and AI come together. While conversations around AI often focus on productivity or job disruption, projects like this show another side of the technology: helping people uncover patterns in everyday life that would otherwise go unnoticed. No, you probably shouldn't start judging coworkers solely based on a heart-rate chart. But as a fun, slightly dangerous workplace experiment, this is one of the more inventive uses of AI and wearable data we've seen lately.

Someone hacked his Whoop to see which of his colleagues raised his stress levels the most and I need this immediately

* This Whoop hack matches heart rate to meeting attendees * It can link coworkers with higher levels of stress * The unofficial hack was made with the help of Claude Fable 5 AI We've seen several examples of people hacking their Whoop bands before (including recently), but nothing quite on this level: one enterprising user has hooked his Whoop up to his meetings schedule on Google Calendar, and can now work out which of his coworkers raise his stress levels the most. Developer Pankaj Tanwar posted his custom-made setup on X, and it's clearly something a lot of other people are interested in -- at the time of writing there are more than 10 million views registered on the post. We don't get too much in the way of detail about how this was done, but Tanwar says he used the Claude Fable AI model to reverse engineer his Whoop and extract the heart rate data. That was then matched up with calendar meetings, and the colleagues attending. "I now have a leaderboard and I think about it daily," says Tanwar, who has sensibly edited his screenshot so that we can't actually see which people get his blood boiling more than others. It's a really neat idea and a great example of a hardware and software hack that produces some genuinely interesting data. More please Of course this isn't an exact science -- heart rate can vary for all kinds of reasons, including time of day and eating and drinking routines. It's possible that it's the subjects of the meetings that are getting Tanwar's heart rate spiking, rather than the coworkers that are sitting in there with him. Still, it's a fun experiment, and even if the Whoop isn't correctly identifying the colleagues that cause the most stress, the data can be used to manage health and well-being during the working day, in and out of meetings. It's something I'd love to have on my own fitness tracker: the sort of insight that these AI-enhanced trackers should be giving us. Which colleague annoys me the most? What parts of my commute are the most stressful? Which TV shows calm me down? This is also more evidence for the increasingly capable AI models that we're all getting access to. Fable 5 has only just been released to the world at large, and is already being used to produce next-level apps and tools with just a few lines of prompting -- see also these alternative Fitbit apps. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.