Professors at the University of Nottingham (UON) have developed an app that can diagnose mental health conditions by questionnaires, facial expressions, and listening to the individual’s voice. This artificial intelligence (AI) technology allows users to monitor their health without needing to go to the doctor’s office and can identify a range of conditions from depression to stress.
The app, called TrueBlue, has 32 different facial interactions that are measured during the test on the program, along with voice recognition that notes the pitch and tones. Users either read a paragraph from a book or answer a personality questionnaire. After the test is complete, users are given a score from which a diagnosis is given.
The developers, BlueSkeye AI, plan to eventually expand the application to a broader range of departments including in the security sector, and to monitor the wellbeing of employees. “It’s potentially revolutionary, and the frequency with which people can self-assess is the biggest impact this could have. The process with a GP can be much longer with different medications and therapies, but with TrueBlue, we can get people on the right treatments quicker. BlueSkeye AI will put the ability to monitor mental health into the hands of individuals and medical professionals by building an affordable and accessible tool on mobile,” said Prof Michel Valstar of the school of computer science at UON.
Prof Valstar added:
This technology has been developed over the best part of six years and more recently – within the last year – we’ve been working with the Institute of Mental Health here to see how we can apply it to help diagnose people with different conditions. We’re particularly focused on helping diagnose perinatal mental health conditions so pregnant women can be highlighted earlier if they are deemed at risk.
One in four people suffers from mental health issues at some point in their lives, according to WHO, resulting in £94 billion a year to the economy. This app could potentially drop those prices down since people could diagnose themselves. The technology is being funded by Nottingham Technology Ventures (NTV), which runs the university’s spin-out portfolio.
Dr. Andy Naylor, NTV’s CEO, explained:
Our decision to support BlueSkeye reflects not only a belief that this represents an important opportunity but also the fact that it could help to identify, treat, and manage conditions which affect very many people.
Dr. Anthony Brown, from UON’s school of computer science, notes that the company is careful with what data they collect, and the app will be compliant with the General Data Protection Regulations. That means users can have their data erased at any time they want.
To get the app up and running, Prof Valstar and Dr. Brown have been working together with Dr. Timur Almaev at the Nottingham Geospatial Building and the Ingenuity Center on the University’s Jubilee Campus day and night.
