Through video calls, Opsis Emotion AI’s
software will be used by counsellers to help diagnose mental health conditions
such as anxiety, stress and depression.
Emotional analysis technology developed by
software solutions provider Opsis Emotion AI will be piloted over the next two
years in a programme targeting more than 4,300 seniors in Singapore.
The programme will see a collaboration
between Opsis and social services agency Lions Befrienders (LB). Through the
use of Opsis' emotion analysis software, counsellers from LB are expected to be
able to diagnose seniors more accurately for mental health conditions such as
anxiety, stress and depression.
Leveraging artificial intelligence
technology, responses and facial expressions captured on video are analysed by
the software to determine a person's mental state. It will then present heat
maps of that person's positive and negative emotions.
According to Andrew Ow, CEO and co-founder
of Opsis, the tool can aid in detecting mental health issues, particularly in
reticent people who may not be open to discussing their mental health
conditions.
"The objective is to assist healthcare
professionals deal more effectively with mental health issues in people who are
suffering in silence. With this tool, we could help prevent behavioural and
psychological deterioration, and improve quality of life," he said.
He added that Opsis' software could also
help provide early warnings of suicidal tendencies, helping care professionals
detect mental health issues through tele-counselling in order to address them
early.
WHY IT MATTERS
By 2030, one in four Singaporeans will be
aged over 65 years, and by 2050, the number is expected to rise to one in two.
In present day, LB serves close to 7,600 seniors in rental flats.
The social service agency said that the
Opsis software will supplement existing mental health screening protocol by
allowing counsellors to provide more accurate virtual care to elderly patients.
The programme’s pilot phase with Lion
Befrienders is intended to see counsellors match data derived from the software
with their own findings to determine overall efficacy.
Should this community pilot initiative be
successful, the tool may be used to serve other beneficiaries in the social
services sector, such as people with special needs.
THE LARGER TREND
In an interview with MobiHealthNews, Ow
mentioned that Opsis is currently working with two public hospitals
specialising in neuroscience along with with six social service agencies to aid
care professionals in identifying signs of depression, anxiety, cognitive decline,
psychosis, hallucinations and pain.
"[One of the goals] of these
partnerships is to aid self-help management and behavioural therapy with
pre/post metrics over a period of time that helps track a person's healing
progress," Ow said.
He added that annotated data helps identify
signs of depression, anxiety, grief, and pain, and can be used as a tool to
help people create awareness of their emotional states and regulate their
emotions better.
"Our annotated datasets from the
clinical, health, counselling and psychological fields are used to train our
machine-learning algorithm to recognise emotions at a minute scale that can be
used to aid assessment and tracking of mental health wellness," Ow
explained.
Technology that analyses facial expressions
has been around since at least 2003, and has evolved significantly since.
Another tech company in this space is Massachusetts-based emotions analytics
company Affectiva. In 2016, the company raised $14m for its emotion analytics
platform, with the aim of expanding globally.
