{"id":191746,"date":"2025-06-17T13:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T13:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/191746\/"},"modified":"2025-06-17T13:14:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T13:14:10","slug":"now-your-phone-can-tell-if-you-have-depression-using-the-selfie-camera-news-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/191746\/","title":{"rendered":"Now your phone can tell if you have depression using the selfie camera | News Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"ORIGINAL:
\n\t\tThe app will track your emotions throughout the day (Picture: Jen Mills\/Emobot)<\/p>\n

Most of us stare at our phone<\/a> or computer for hours every day \u2013 and soon, it could be staring back.<\/p>\n

New technology to monitor mental health<\/a> works by analysing emotions throughout the day using the front-facing camera, producing a daily report similar to step count or a heart rate graph.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of patients are already using an app called Emobot to track their mood, seeing if their depression<\/a> is getting worse or responding to treatment.<\/p>\n

Co-founder Samuel Lerman told Metro <\/strong>that it is classed as a medical device in France<\/a>, and they are working with psychiatrists to prescribe it to patients.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To work as a mood \u2018thermometer\u2019, the app takes a picture of your face every second, and categorises if you\u2019re feeling energised, pleased, happy, content, relaxed, bored, sad, or angry using a heat map. <\/p>\n

\t\t\"ORIGINAL:
\n\t\tMetro reporter Jen Mills looked mostly \u2018pleased\u2019 and \u2018bored\u2019 while visiting the stand, according to the algorithm (Picture: Jen Mills)<\/p>\n

The team were initially afraid people would find this too intrusive, given the app constantly watches you, and a future version will even listen to your tone of voice as you go about your day via the phone microphone. <\/p>\n

Mr Lerman said: \u2018The camera is open in the background all the time. So we were a bit skeptical about that aspect, however the feedback was pretty good.\u2019<\/p>\n

He said that no photos from the camera are transmitted to a central database or stored, as they are processed locally by AI on the user\u2019s phone and deleted. <\/p>\n

This technology is similar to that being developed for office workers<\/a>, to check if they are really sitting at their computer, or if they appear tired.<\/p>\n

We tried the emotion mapping software on display at the Viva Tech conference in Paris, and a realtime image showed reporter Jen Mills as appearing both \u2018pleased\u2019 and \u2018bored\u2019 at the same time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\"ORIGINAL:
\n\t\tClick to enlarge: Insights shown to the user about their state of mind (Picture: Emobot)<\/p>\n

Mr Lerman said the app helps doctors track patients\u2019 response to treatment as well as \u2018detect sudden deterioration of their mood\u2019 and relapse risk. <\/p>\n

He said it could also speed up diagnosis of longterm mental health conditions, such as distinguishing bipolar disorder from depression, which can take years to recognise. <\/p>\n

For now, it is used in clinical settings, but he sees potential for it to be used by the general public in future too if they want to monitor their mood. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tWould you use an emotion tracker?<\/p>\n