Remy : Mental Health Companion
Remy is an app that contains an AR buddy who serves as a mental health companion. Based on information accessed from "Apple Health" and "Google Calendar," Remy is able to help you stay on top of your schedule. Remy gives users suggestions on when to eat, when to sleep, and personally recommends articles on mental health hygiene. All this data is aggregated into a report that can then be sent to medical professionals. Remy also suggests on when to go on walks and provides users the ability to meet other Remy owners.
Team
Hyejun Youn - designer |
Frankie Li - actor, writer, researcher
Jing lin - software engineer |
Teo xi Hui - actor, UIUX Designer
My Role - Project Lead / UIUX Designer
Worked on research, ideation, prototyping, front-end coding, video production using After Effects, 3d animation
Tools
Sketch, Proto.io Mixamo, Unity ArKit, Swift Photoshop After Effects
Concept Background
How could we create an AR buddy to be there for you?
My psychology background inspired me to create an user-friendly mental health service app
because I
knew
that many students lacked awareness of the risks and prevalence of mental health issues. At the Hackathon, Our team connected over our shared passion for social impact our ideas about the effects of loneliness and isolation, including our personal experiences with depression and self-imposed isolation. We looked at our skill sets, shared some personal stories about imaginary friends and distant siblings, and then the idea of Remy was born.
How We Built It
We built an iOS application in Swift with ARKit and SceneKit with Apple Health data integration.
Our
3D models were created in Mixamo.
Problems
Anxiety is the top presenting concern among college students (41.6%), followed by depression
(36.4%)
and relationship problems (35.8%) (The AUCCCD Annual Survey and Report, 2013).
People avoid seeking treatment for these issues so as not to be seen as someone who is
“ill.”
Accessing treatment is also a problem: the Associated Press reports that many students must
wait
weeks for treatment or find help outside the campus community as school clinics struggle to
meet
demand. I wanted to explore a friendly way to help people easily access mental health
guidance
and
find ways to deal with mental health issues using Augmented Reality.
Initial Goals
😺 Address mental health problems through education and interaction.
😁 Create a user-friendly in which app people feel comfortable sharing and
recording their days,
and learning about mental health issues
Initial Questions
These were questions in my mind before I started to research and conduct user interviews.
Who are the target users?
What are some ways to address mental health issues?
How can the app help users easily contact health clinics?
How can the app collect users’ data?
How can users become comfortable sharing their personal stories?
How can the app help users aware of mental health issues and learn ways to address their problems?
What are some ways to address mental health issues?
How can the app help users easily contact health clinics?
How can the app collect users’ data?
How can users become comfortable sharing their personal stories?
How can the app help users aware of mental health issues and learn ways to address their problems?
Research
We conducted a multi-methodology research effort to better understand how people deal with
mental health issues, how current uses of technology try to address mental health problems, and
how academic researchers have sought to explore these questions in their relative fields of
study.
Challenges
😺 We did not want Remy to promote codependency in its users, so we specifically set time
aside to
think about how we could create a feature that focused on socialization.
We believed that this could be solved by adding social interaction among Remy users.
1. Why AR?
AR ingredients can help marketers to optimize their AR campaigns and enhance various types of
consumer engagement: user-brand engagement, user-user engagement, and user-bystander engagement.
2. What is age range of AR users?
16 to 34
Millennial generation, Augmented reality users
35%
participants that experienced AR in the
previous month were in the 16 to 24 age group
3. Mental health problems millennial generation face
2nd Leading cause of death for studens and is directly linked to social isolation.
2/3
of students suffereing with mental health illness and don’t seek treatment.
160+Colleges and universities have waiting lists fro counseling services.
4. Symptoms of mental health disorders or mental health issues
Fears and worries
Withdrawal from social activities
Tiredness
Sleeping problems
Withdrawal from social activities
Tiredness
Sleeping problems
Problems with alcohol or drug use
Eating habitsbr
Anger, hostility or violence
Lack of exercise
Eating habitsbr
Anger, hostility or violence
Lack of exercise
5. How can the app help users easily contact health clinics?
How can the app collect users’ data?
Apple Health
Collect data of sleep time, and amount of walking, analyze the data.
Twilio
All data of user is aggregated into a report that can then be sent to medical professionals.
Google Calendar
Plan your day ahead to overcome mental illness. Provides suggestions on when to eat, when to
sleep.
Interview
For the first step, I interviewed students who attended the Hackathon about their personal
connection to depression. I used these interviews to understand the current status of students,
and how and when they suffered from mental health problems.
Cora, 22
“I was sexually assaulted and raped. I didn’t know how to deal with it, so I went into denial and dove into a liquor bottle. For months, I kept it all inside and struggled in silence as my depression got worse.”
“I was sexually assaulted and raped. I didn’t know how to deal with it, so I went into denial and dove into a liquor bottle. For months, I kept it all inside and struggled in silence as my depression got worse.”
Emma, 23
“My boyfriend was afraid of going to the clinic. He denied that he’s going through depression. I told him to seek help.”
“My boyfriend was afraid of going to the clinic. He denied that he’s going through depression. I told him to seek help.”
Hui, 21
“I occasionally received mental health hygiene messages from my mental clinics. It was a helpful way of reminding me what I should do.”
“I occasionally received mental health hygiene messages from my mental clinics. It was a helpful way of reminding me what I should do.”
June, 24
“It was my first time being separated from my family. When I’m not included in a group, I felt like I’m left behind, not doing well.”
“It was my first time being separated from my family. When I’m not included in a group, I felt like I’m left behind, not doing well.”
Challenges
We did not want Remy to promote codependency in its users, so we specifically set time aside to
think about how we could create a feature that focused on socialization.
We believed that this could be solved by adding social interaction among Remy users.
Insight
From the interview, I realized that many college students are experiencing separation from their
family for the first time, and they need to find new friends in new environments. When they
encounter problems, they often turn to alcohol and drugs instead of going to clinics and health
centers.
- Not recognize their problems.
- Not receive education about how to deal with
mental health problems.
- Difficult and stigmatizing to go to the clinics and
mental health centers.
Competitive Analysis
Daylio
Mood diaries with simple icon selection
Statistics about mood change.
Very few options to available to chronicle
emotions and daily activities in detail.
Too simple and rigid design
Competitive Analysis
Moodpath
Begins with chat messaging design that allows intimate connection with users
Green and orange colors are relaxing
Short readings and audio about overcoming mental illness.
How to build self confidence, healthy sleep, relaxing sound etc
Lack of interaction with professionals, recording diary
App Process
From the interviews and competitive analysis, I found what people with mental health issues
really needs. Furthermore, I realized some common traits of health related apps: tracking your
mood and health, and trying to help users to feel comfortable sharing their stories. So, I
decided to set up additional goals for this app.
New Goals
Recognize and find users’ mental health issues by collecting health data
Educate users on ways to manage and address mental health problems using mental health hygiene
messages from Remy.
Easily contact health service centers using Twilio
Generate a warm, user-friendly experience like communicating with friends and family, in which
users feel comfortable sharing and recording their days, and learning about mental health issues
What’s next for Remy
While our team has designed Remy to be used in a college setting, we envision many other
relevant use cases where Remy will be able to better support users’ mental health
wellness.
Remy can be used as a tool by therapists to get better insights on their clients’ sleep
patterns
and outdoor activity, and this data can be used to further improve clients’ recovery
process.
Clients who use Remy can send their activity logs to their therapists before sessions
with a
simple click of a button.
To top it off, we envision Remy as a resource hub for users to improve their overall
wellness.
By providing valuable sleep hygiene tips and even lifestyle advice, Remy will be the
one-stop,
holistic companion for users experiencing mental health difficulties to turn to as they
take
their steps towards recovery.