This company uses AI-based video games to monitor and treat depression

Mental health and depression have always been taboo topics around the world, mainly due to their immeasurable nature. However, we have seen many technology companies and researchers taking the necessary steps to address and track the mental health of affected patients. And now scientists have developed a particular video game that will help doctors treat patients with depression.

Scientists develop video game to treat depression

Thymia, a UK-based mental health-focused platform, has developed a special platform to diagnose, monitor and treat patients with depression using a special video game. The game is based on neuropsychology. These are then combined with analysis of the patient’s facial microexpressions and speech patterns to assess their mental health.

Chimia says the current systems used to assess mental health issues such as depression and anxiety are vague, based primarily on subjective questionnaires, and are prone to bias . The company also said that clinicians often complain that they spend too much time doing administrative tasks on behalf of patients.

“Currently, the existing system is flawed in many ways and GPs don’t have the time. The existing system is an incredibly biased and subjective questionnaire with no follow-up between appointments.” said Dr. Chimia CEO and co-founder. Emilia Morimpakis said in an official statement. “Thymia is the first system to provide objectivity and use several types of data to create truly accurate and robust depression models,” she further added.

Because of these issues, Thymia developed a video game-based mental health tracking system to assist patients and clinicians. The company says patients can log on to the platform and participate in fun activities and video games. This way, the system will be able to assess the likelihood and potential severity of depression and create a report tailored to the user.

The company then uses neuropsychological games to collect users’ cognitive behaviors such as error rates, reaction times, and memory. In addition to gaming, Thymia uses anonymized facial features to look for signs of depression . It also collects patient voice data and uses voice to detect signs of depression.

If a patient needs clinical help, they can visit a clinician. Clinicians will be able to utilize the data collected through Thymia’s system to diagnose patients as needed. Patients can also access games and activities on Thymia’s platform to monitor behavioral changes during treatment. This allows patients and clinicians to assess changes and understand whether treatment is working.

The company is currently collecting user data from over 2,000 depressed patients and healthy individuals to train its AI models. But experts are currently skeptical that the system will have the desired effect on patients. The company plans to begin clinical trials of the system later this year.