While there is an app for everything under the sun these days, there are still areas that are getting under-served. There are apps for those that want to lose weight, those that want to track their exercise efforts, those that want better nutrition, or the ability to track a specific condition. However, while health specific apps abound, there are far too few that deal specifically with mental health issues. That’s changing. FOCI is device, about the size of a clip that can be used in a hands-free way. The device is an innovation put out by the UK company Tinylogics. FOCI is placed where it can calculate the wearer’s breathing. The technology is based on the premise that different breathing is instigated by different mental states. The Tinylogics device develops an understanding for the wearer’s patterns and sends out a signal to let the wearer know of the need to refocus. One user found that while FOCI took a few days to get the patterns down, it was actually pretty on target for knowing when a re-focus was needed. But, the downside was the tool did not assess for standers and walkers, working mainly for sitters.
Key Takeaways:
- Tinylogics has invented a device called FOCI that uses a machine-learning enabled wearable sensor to measure your emotional state by tracking your breathing patterns.
- FOCI uses machine learning to get better over time at filtering out background noise and associating your breathing patterns with your emotional state.
- FOCI uses vibrations and color to alert you to changes in your breathing pattern, but checking the FOCI app can become distracting in itself.
“We found the device to be comfortable to wear, almost to the point of losing it when it became unclipped from our waist a couple of times.”