Tech Terrors: The Wild World of Gadgets, Robots, and AI in Cortisol Testing!

LAS VEGAS, Jan 6 — Whether identifying escalating stress or managing an outright panic incident, the technology sector is providing a variety of innovative tools aimed at enhancing mental wellness.

A multitude of startups will showcase their offerings at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, including the Swiss company Nutrix, which is unveiling cortiSense to gauge levels of the so-called stress hormone cortisol.

A compact cylindrical device featuring a slender strip at one end, cortiSense enables users to examine and assess their saliva directly – eliminating the need to spit into a container and send it to a lab, as per Nutrix. Results can be accessed in minutes via a mobile application.

Up until now, Nutrix’s founder Maria Hahn explained, to check your cortisol “you have to visit a medical facility, or you must send your samples away.”

If users’ levels turn out to be excessively high, Nutrix claims it can connect them with healthcare professionals to assist in developing a suitable approach.

Hahn noted that cortiSense could serve as a beneficial supplement to other Nutrix tools, such as gSense, which gathers information on sleep, weight, physical activity, and blood sugar levels.

“It’s about empowering the individual,” she stated.

While the device will be sold directly to consumers, Hahn anticipates it will attract more interest from health insurance providers or corporate entities – which could aggregate data on overall stress levels in a workplace or within a team, for instance, without revealing personal details.

“Offering this consolidated data to the employer,” she mentioned, could assist in deciding that “employees just need some time off.”

New York psychologist Julie Kolzet warned that “these are not therapeutic devices, but supplementary products that can aid in initial assessments (and) screenings.”

Relaxing with ease

French company Baracoda, on the other hand, is introducing Bmind, dubbed “the world’s first AI-driven smart mirror for mental well-being.”

Baracoda asserts that the device incorporates a camera designed to recognize indications of stress or exhaustion – and subsequently advise the user to take a moment to unwind, view calming visuals, and listen to soothing music.

Additionally, there is CalmiGo, a small portable gadget intended for use during moments of distress which activates the parasympathetic nervous system, helping to decrease the user’s heart rate and stabilize emotions.

Company CEO Adi Wallach mentioned that the intention was to “develop products that individuals can carry with them wherever they go, and utilize to soothe… themselves without reliance on others or pharmaceuticals.”

The user places their mouth on the device, resembling an inhaler for asthma, and breathes in a rhythm indicated by a blinking light – a rhythm the company claims is optimized, using artificial intelligence, to work most effectively for each person.

The device – of which 100,000 units have been sold in the United States – stimulates four of the five senses with its luminous signals, a physical vibration that also produces sound, and calming scents that “liberate you from an anxious state,” the company articulates.

CalmiGo states that a clinical trial involving veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – conducted in partnership with faculty at Israel’s Reichman University – showed anxiety levels could be diminished within several weeks.

Some individuals were even able to eliminate their medication completely, according to Wallach.

Guests at the CES may also encounter Romi, a tabletop robot that the MIXI company asserts “many in Japan utilize to alleviate their anxiety and solitude.”

In a demonstration clip, Romi interacts with its owner, who returns disheartened from an unproductive night of work, gently recommending that they watch a film to unwind. It appears to be effective.

Nonetheless, psychologist Kolzet is doubtful of the capacity of robots, or AI in general, to respond significantly to the root causes of anxiety or depression.

However, patients “desire someone to guide them,” Kolzet added. “They long to feel secure and validated, and I don’t believe a robot can accomplish that.”

This year’s CES is scheduled from Tuesday through Friday. — AFP