New AI app claims it can read your mind through your face. Here's how
At a time when
mental health awareness
is on the rise and technology is more personal than ever, a new artificial intelligence application is blurring the line between self-care and surveillance.
Emobot
, a French medical tech startup, has developed an app that uses facial recognition to monitor emotional states—just from your smartphone's selfie camera.
The app is already being used by hundreds of patients, mainly in France, where it is classified as a medical device. According to
The Metro
, Emobot tracks facial expressions throughout the day and creates emotion graphs much like a fitness tracker logs steps or heart rate. The goal? To help psychiatrists monitor mood swings, gauge treatment effectiveness, and even detect early signs of relapse in patients battling depression.
It Watches You—But Not Like You Think
Understandably, the idea of an app that keeps your camera running in the background all day might raise some eyebrows. Emobot co-founder Samuel Lerman admitted to
The Metro
that the team was initially "skeptical" about user acceptance. 'The camera is open in the background all the time,' he explained. 'However, the feedback was pretty good.'
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To address privacy concerns, Lerman clarified that no visual data is transmitted to a central server or stored. All AI processing takes place locally on the user's phone, and any images are immediately deleted after analysis. In its next iteration, the app may also analyze users' voice tones through the phone's microphone to gather more data on emotional well-being.
The Face of Future Healthcare?
When
Metro
reporter Jen Mills tested Emobot's emotion recognition tech at the VivaTech conference in Paris, the live facial analysis software identified her as 'pleased' and 'bored' at the same time—highlighting the complex spectrum of human emotion the app attempts to map.
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Lerman believes Emobot is a breakthrough in mental health diagnostics. 'It helps doctors track patients' responses to treatment as well as detect sudden deterioration of their mood,' he said. It could serve as a real-time warning system for depression and burnout, particularly for users at high risk of relapse.
Emobot's launch comes amid a larger trend within the tech world, where mental health is becoming a central focus. At VivaTech 2025, which featured over 14,000 startups from 50 countries, AI-powered healthcare solutions were among the most discussed innovations. The surge in interest reflects a growing belief that digital tools can—and should—be used to support mental well-being in daily life.
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