Detecting anxiety, preventing the build-up of stress, or even managing a panic attack, the technology industry now offers more and more devices dedicated to mental health. Among the start-ups present in this niche at the consumer tech show, which opens Tuesday in Las Vegas (Nevada), the Swiss Nutrix, which launched cortiSense, capable of measuring the level of cortisol, often called the hormone stress. A small cylindrical object ending in a tab makes it possible to collect saliva, without spit and without a tube, which is directly analyzed by the instrument. After a few minutes, the results can be viewed via a mobile application. “Until now, there was no tool to control (your levels) from home,” explains Maria Hahn, founder of Nutrix. “If you wanted to measure (cortisol production), you had to go to the hospital or send samples.” In the event of results that are too high, Nutrix offers contact with health professionals to provide an appropriate response through consultation.
Maria Hahn sees cortiSense as “an additional layer” of parameters, complementing the existing ecosystem of Nutrix and their gSense platform which compiles data on sleep, weight, physical activity and changes in glucose levels. If the object will be accessible for direct purchase by individuals, the general director especially sees the model developing around health insurers, even public organizations, but also businesses. In this last configuration, the user will retain ownership of their personal data, but they can be aggregated with those of other employees to observe the stress level of a team or department. On the basis of this information, “the company could”, for example, “decide to grant more leave”, imagines Maria Hahn.
“These devices do not administer treatment but they are complementary products which can help with detection or make an initial diagnosis,” observes Julie Kolzet, a New York psychologist.
Breathe against anxiety
The BMind from the French company Baracoda has an integrated camera capable of identifying signs of stress or fatigue, then offering, if necessary, a relaxation time with soothing images and music. CalmiGo goes further with its small device, similar in appearance to an asthma inhaler, which fits in the hand and is used in the event of a panic attack. Its boss, Adi Wallach, wanted to “create a product that you can take anywhere and which can calm (an attack) without the need for another person or medication”. The user places their mouth as on an inhaler and breathes at a rate defined by light signals. Thanks to artificial intelligence, the defined rhythm is specific to each individual.
In addition to breathing, the machine, already sold in more than 100,000 copies in the United States, stimulates four of the five senses, with light signals, a physical vibration which also produces a sound, and soothing scents to “detach yourself from a state of anxiety. The process activates the so-called parasympathetic nervous system, which slows down the body and helps regulate emotions. CalmiGo carried out a clinical study on veterans prone to post-traumatic stress (PTSD) in collaboration with the Israeli faculty hospital Reichman University. It showed a reduction in anxiety and PTSD symptoms after a few weeks of use, and, according to Adi Wallach, some patients “were able to stop their drug treatment.”
At CES, visitors will also come across Romi, the small table or bedside robot “that many in Japan use to calm their anxiety and their feeling of loneliness”, according to its designer, Mixi. In the demonstration video, Romi responds to her frustrated owner after a night of useless work with a joke, suggests that she watch a film to relax and that’s it. “Perhaps with the emergence of more and more devices on the market, more people will be interested in therapy,” imagines Julie Kolzet. She does not believe, on the other hand, in the capacity of a robot and more generally of AI to respond to the root causes of anxiety or unhappiness. “Patients want someone to guide them,” she says, “to feel understood and on safe ground. I don’t think a robot can do that.”
