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We've got plenty of gadgets that light a fire under us to stay fit, but what about keeping our brains in check? A new phone under development at Northwestern University's school of medicine aims to do just that, and a trial study suggests there might be something to the notion. The phone, named Mobilyze, isn't that different than a Nike FuelBand-like device, but it compiles a cross-section of data to infer about your mental state rather than how many calories you're burning.
The rather unfortunately-named Mobilyze phone will collect data about your location, level of physical activity, and, most interestingly, your social interactions. The idea is that by keeping an eye on your physical habits (are you leaving the house? are you exercising?) combined with social data such as how many calls you're making and how busy your inbox is, the phone can accurately pick up on depression warning signs.
It may sound absurd, but depression does have a very predictable clinical pattern, and it sounds like the phone could actually tap into some of them. If suddenly you aren't ever leaving your house, for example, it's safe to say that you may not be enjoying the activities you normally enjoy — one of the criteria for a depression diagnosis.
Detecting early depression warning signs before they can blossom into full-blown mental health crises is a wonderful idea, but we can't help but feel such a tool would be far more efficient as an app. Such a single-minded device is far from likely to catch on, but it's refreshing to see innovations that care about how healthy our minds are for a change.
[via Mashable]
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