"How might we use digital phenotyping and emotion recognition to support young people's coping systems?"

Problem

From 2019 up until 2023, there have been statistics showing that the largest age group showing declines in mental health and psychological distress due to not being able to cope is aged 15 to 24. Untreated psychological distress can lead to long-term consequences, such as chronic mental health disorders, academic or professional setbacks, social isolation, and increased risk of substance abuse or self-harm. Young people often struggle to find effective coping mechanisms, leaving them vulnerable to further emotional, behavioural, physical, and psychological health decline.

What is EmotiVerse?

The final prototype, EmotiVerse, aims to support young people in managing psychological distress by providing real-time, emotion-based storytelling experiences tailored to their emotional state. The app is designed for teenagers and young adults facing psychological distress. It captures and interprets the changes in users' emotional data through detection from sensors via wearable integration. The data is processed and analysed through AI emotion recognition to detect various emotions. Stories will automatically be recommended to the users based on the users’ emotions and coping strategies. Characters with similar coping systems will be suggested because they will have similar management methods. Daily unlocks will be different every day and the new characters will be added to the story collections.

Aim

This project aims to develop a digital tool that enhances the mental well-being of young people by providing real-time emotional support through emotion recognition and digital phenotyping technologies. This tool seeks to help users recognise their emotional states and offer tailored stories and coping strategies to relieve stress, fostering emotional resilience and healthier coping mechanisms.

Prototype