Do you know your 'sweat score'? The rise of hydration tech

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, The 2026 World Cup is the first to have mandatory hydration breaks in every game By Chris Baraniuk Technology Reporter Published 23 June 2026, 00:01 BST Booing fans and disgruntled pundits. One of the biggest controversies of the 2026 World Cup so far has been the hydration breaks, which – while not entirely new – are for the first time occurring twice during every match in the tournament. The breaks aren't really about hydration , some spectators say. They're just an opportunity for certain broadcasters to show more ads, they break up the natural flow of games, and are unnecessary in air conditioned stadiums. Whether or not you agree with these complaints, there's no doubt that hydration itself is an increasingly prominent point of discussion worldwide. "Hydration is a key issue," says Andreas Flouris at the University of Thessaly in Greece. "We definitely see it, from a scientific point of view, gaining more and more attention." Climate change is intensifying heatwaves , and in response public health campaigns , external are encouraging people to drink more fluids. It is in this context that hydration-focused gadgets have flooded the consumer electronics market in recent years. They range from sweat monitors to toilet bowl urine-analysers. But do they work? Image source, Andreas Flouris Image caption, The lab of Andreas Flouris at the University of Thessaly researches hydration Not drinking sufficient water is a common problem. A 2023 study suggested , external that one in four UK adults aged 65 or older were dehydrated, due to not drinking sufficient fluids. And a 2018 study by Flouris , external and colleagues assessed hydration levels in 139 workers around Europe. They found that 70% were dehydrated to a level that could negatively affect their thinking and control of their movements. Purveyors of hydration tech say their products can help. Years ago, gadgets such as the Apple Watch and Fitbit made step-counting popular, says Roozbeh Ghaffari, co-founder and chief executive of US-based Epicore Biosystems. But why stop there? "Sweat has been the next chapter," he asserts. His company is one of several that makes sweat-analysing devices. In Epicore Biosystems' case, that includes single-use sticky patches and sleeve-like wearables, which track the flow rate of sweat as it emerges from your skin, the sweat's sodium (salt) content, and skin temperature, among other metrics. A new armband and app combo also offer to evaluate your "hydration readiness" based on "real-time sweat data". The idea is to avoid dehydration creeping up on you. "With this new generation of our wearables, we could figure out what type of risk profile you have based on your sweat score," says Ghaffari. Some of Epicore Biosystems' devices vibrate gently when they calculate that it is time for you to take a swig of fluid, to avoid becoming dehydrated. The company says its devices are used by athletes but also workers on building s