Latest news with #JenMills
Metro
17-06-2025
- Health
- Metro
Now your phone can tell if you have depression using the selfie camera
The app will track your emotions throughout the day (Picture: Jen Mills/Emobot) Most of us stare at our phone or computer for hours every day – and soon, it could be staring back. New technology to monitor mental health 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. Hundreds of patients are already using an app called Emobot to track their mood, seeing if their depression is getting worse or responding to treatment. Co-founder Samuel Lerman told Metro that it is classed as a medical device in France, and they are working with psychiatrists to prescribe it to patients. To work as a mood 'thermometer', the app takes a picture of your face every second, and categorises if you're feeling energised, pleased, happy, content, relaxed, bored, sad, or angry using a heat map. Metro reporter Jen Mills looked mostly 'pleased' and 'bored' while visiting the stand, according to the algorithm (Picture: Jen Mills) 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. Mr Lerman said: 'The camera is open in the background all the time. So we were a bit skeptical about that aspect, however the feedback was pretty good.' 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's phone and deleted. This technology is similar to that being developed for office workers, to check if they are really sitting at their computer, or if they appear tired. 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 'pleased' and 'bored' at the same time. Click to enlarge: Insights shown to the user about their state of mind (Picture: Emobot) Mr Lerman said the app helps doctors track patients' response to treatment as well as 'detect sudden deterioration of their mood' and relapse risk. 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. 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. Would you use an emotion tracker? No, I won't use any kind of health tracker I'd use a physical health tracker but not this Yes, to get an overall picture of my health To train the algorithm on how to recognise emotions, they asked patients to fill out questionaires on their state of mind while using it. Questionaires on mood are currently the main method of diagnosing mood disorders. They also trained the AI on open source information, and are conducting clinical trials into biomarkers of depression, to improve the accuracy of the results. To get a wider picture of a person's mental state, they also plan to integrate information like sleep, step count, and even the weather. It might sound dystopian to have your phone constantly taking photos of you, but some see it as a logical next step when we track so much of our health already, such as an Apple Watch measuring heart rate variabilty, sleep cycles and wrist temperature. Having such sensitive data collected and digitised also poses a risk, but this is one that all health apps must grapple with — including the NHS, which was hit by a damaging cyber attack last year. Click to enlarge: A graph showing a bipolar patient's transition from mania to depression (Picture: Emobot) Mental health apps were a theme of the Viva Tech conference, Europe's biggest tech event. They are seen as a potential way to address the current shortages in professional help, with many on long waiting lists, or limited by living too far away from treatment. Tech offering AI therapists, remote monitoring, and self help is booming, with investors identifying this and similar as a key growth area that could go from being worth £5.5 billion in 2025 to £17.5 billion by 2032. Michel Treskow, a partner at venture capital firm Eight Roads Ventures, told a panel his company was already investing in the field: 'There is a fundamental shortage of supply practitioners, funding, and time. We believe technology can help address all of these issues to some degree.' Emobot's stand, pictured at the Viva Tech conference in Paris last week (Picture: Jen Mills/Metro) Comparing mental health tech to self-driving Waymo taxis (already a familiar sight in southern California), he said there was an open question about how much tech could replace or add to traditional mental health treatment. 'There are still plenty of people out there who don't want to take a Waymo and would rather stick with somebody driving the car,' he said. 'The question is, is it just as safe? If the answer is yes, then it becomes a choice. If it's not as safe, we ought not to do it.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. Arrow MORE: I thought I was confident in my body — then I got my first girlfriend Arrow MORE: Urgent recall for vitamin gummies over 'life-threatening health risk' Arrow MORE: Online spells and WitchTok – welcome to the world of modern day witches
Metro
13-06-2025
- Metro
Meet the new robotic dog that could save us from being blown up
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page Visitors at Europe's largest tech fair joined in with kicking a robotic dog – but it was designed for far worse. The cute quadruped has been programmed to respond to bomb threats, such as if a suspicious package is left in a public place. On display at Viva Tech in Paris, the dog gave its paw to shake hands with onlookers, before getting booted in the side. It wasn't a display of pointless animal cruelty (we hope) but was intended to show how well it keeps its balance. Visiting the expo yesterday, Metro was surprised to see nobody managed to knock it off its feet, even when it got up onto two legs to 'sit up and beg'. The cost of the dog ranges from £1,600 right up to £120,000 depending on functionality. Pacheco Romeu (left) and Pedro de Jesus Moreira (right) are seen with their Robo dog (Picture: Jen Mills/Metro) Ana Correia, a product designer for smart locker company Lokk, told Metro: 'The dog is under development in case of – I hate to say this word, but we need to talk about it – a terror attack. Imagine there is a bomb threat: You wouldn't send a human; you would send the dog. 'In case the bomb actually explodes, it's the dog it blows up, not a human.' The basic hardware of the dog was designed by Unitree Robotics, one of the world's major firms in the field. But its public service abilities are being developed by Lokk, who say robodogs like this could be deployed in city centres if suspected bombs are left in public lockers. The robo dog is resistant to being knocked over, despite some of the visitors at the conference attempts (Picture: Jen Mills/Metro) Already working with schools, hospitals, and major sportswear chain Decathlon, the company say that they have done more than 30 million openings throughout Portugal. How it works is, when there is a suspected threat, the robot dog's handlers put it near a locker. It will then walk forward, open the locker, and check the suspicious object inside. The dog is able to jump and leap forward, walk on two legs as well as four, has a camera which transmits information back to its handler, as well as a heat sensor which can detect dangerous material even if the door is closed. This then provides valuable information for risk assessment, without putting a human in harm's way. Powered by artificial intelligence, the dog would go to the lockers after their operator activated an emergency, and could see how many doors had been open, for how long, and which ones. Ana said it can open and close them too, and even 'detect what is inside the lockers', though wouldn't reveal how as she said it was confidential. Min Zhang, director of Europe for Unitree, said: 'We develop robots because they can do dangerous work, boring work or dirty work in a complicated environment.' The dog can even stand on its hind legs, in the same way that our beloved pooches can (Picture: Jen Mills/Metro) But he said that what buyers do with them is ultimately decided by them, as 'we supply the hardware' and then they programme it. 'If I want to use the robot dog to bring me a coffee, he can do it,' he said. A lot of people are 'very happy to see the robot dog walking around for entertainment', he said. He added he did not know if the robot dog could ever survive a bomb blast, however, as this had not been tested. Lokk co-founder Pedro de Jesus Moreira: 'If there is any threat, the dog will be able to approach the system for us or the police to check the lockers in a safety area. He has a scanner and optical vision. In the future we are planning more features – this is just the beginning.' In February this year, the UK government announced it was also developing robot dogs to join the bomb squad. These ones would go a step further than simply taking the hit, and would actually defuse the bombs. The dog also gave its paw to shake hands with onlookers (Picture: Jen Mills/Metro) They said: 'Robot dogs that can defuse explosives are set to revolutionise bomb disposal operations and significantly reduce the risk to military personnel.' A new live trial led by MoD scientists found that advanced robots like these could both detect bombs using sensors, and defuse them. The government said they plan to increase the number of tasks robots are trusted to do remotely, which would reduce the need to put humans in harm's way. Meanwhile, you might also find robot dogs delivering your parcels, with a trial from Evri set to take place this summer once the regulatory issues have been ironed out. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page.
