Background

International students often experience anxiety due to homesickness, communication difficulties, and the stress of adjusting to a new culture and academic environment. In these cases, they lack readily available non-medical solutions to manage emotional distress. According to the report of Wang et al.(2023), 28.71% of international students have experienced anxiety. How to use effective resources and equipment to provide psychological guidance and effective intervention for international students to improve their quality of life. This project focuses on exploring how artificial intelligence and wearables can challenge the mental health of anxious international students. In the course of the research, the key contents and problem areas of the research are also listed. The main framework of this paper is to put forward specific thinking and solutions around how to improve and effectively intervene in the emotional problems of psychological anxiety of international students. 

Purpose

This project aims to design a smart glasses device to reduce anxiety among international students in high-intensity and unfamiliar environments. It focuses on addressing emotional challenges such as homesickness, social isolation, and academic pressure, which often exacerbate stress and anxiety in this population. 

The project uses a human-centered design approach, combining empathy mapping and system mapping to understand the psychological needs of international students. Gain a deeper understanding of the emotional state of international students, respond to international students' anxiety more promptly, and modify the product in a timely manner. The smart glasses integrate virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI), using voice assistance and health monitoring functions to provide emotional support. For example, if user anxiety is detected, it simulates the voices of family and loved ones to help users feel comforted when they cannot actually contact their families at night or in other high-anxiety environments. It can also display 360-degree panoramic photos of the user's home environment. This project highlights the potential of emerging technologies, such as immersive experiences that make users feel as if they are in familiar places and with people they trust. This helps reduce anxiety caused by isolation and unfamiliar environments while enhancing emotional comfort. To support mental health and provide a portable, personalized anxiety relief tool. Smart glasses provide timely intervention to enhance the emotional well-being of international students and help them better adapt to their new environment. This approach may influence the design of future mental health support tools. As a result, the device treats users' anxiety through the senses rather than medication or talk therapy.

Future plans

 With the development of science and technology, the community hopes that the smart glasses developed in this project can be used by a wider group, not only for the anxiety of international students. At the same time, it is hoped that the function of this product can be continuously optimized to achieve higher technology detection and intervention functions, and better bring services to users. In terms of business, it is hoped that this design product can be found by more schools and institutions, and actively participate in mental health management, better provide emotional support for students, and better invest this design product in the education industry, actively discover students' psychological problems, and better manage students' mental health. I hope that in the future, smart glasses can be found and used by more families and individuals, truly put into production and market circulation, and improve people's happiness and comfort in daily life. At the same time, the device still needs to continue research, hoping to introduce more intelligent technology in the future, integration of EEG sensor optimization hardware and software development. It can truly communicate with the Internet and promote the development and innovation of equipment.

Reference

Wang, Y., Wang, X., Wang, X. et al. Stressors in university life and anxiety symptoms among international students: a sequential mediation model. BMC Psychiatry 23, 556 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05046-7