Returning from isolation has left many worried about how to express complex mental health issues - but what if we couldn't hide how we feel?
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Researchers from Monash University and RMIT have developed an augmented reality headset that reads and projects users' emotional states in real time.
The prototype is called Neo-Noumena and works by reading a wearer's brain waves before passing it through a machine learning algorithm. The algorithm then classifies the emotion the wearer is feeling into one of four categories in the dimensions of high and low valence (whether it is positive or negative) and arousal.
The emotion then generates a fractal shape which "floats" around the user, pictorially representing the nature of the emotion through its symmetry or asymmetry and colour.
A study with 12 participants using Neo-Noumena saw participants' emotional competence increase over the period of use, learning patterns in their partner or housemate's emotional behaviour.
"The reason for this was that through the system they were able to experiment with how things either affected the emotions of themselves or their partners that they were using the system with," said researcher and Exertion Games Lab PhD candidate, Nathan Semertzidis.
"They might engage in one activity like, for example, listening to music, watching a movie or having a drink. And they might then notice a reaction in the emotion of themselves with their partner in the context of that activity."
The researchers claim Neo-Noumena could be used to help combat mental health issues following social isolation during the pandemic. Numerous mental health organisations in Australia have recorded significantly increased calls for support during the pandemic, with Lifeline Australia reportedly receiving almost 90,000 calls a month since March.
"Due to a lot of social isolation, it's becoming a bit more difficult to remain in tune with your emotional states and understanding your emotional reactions to things," Mr Semertzidis said.
"Technologies like this might be able to really help us rekindle that back when everything opens up again."
Beyond the pandemic, Neo-Noumena has been touted as having the ability to assist people with Autism Spectrum Disorder or those in therapy and rehabilitation to better understand their treatment progress.
"I can imagine that it's something that both the patient and the clinician might engage in together. I think that in therapy it's tremendously useful for both parties to understand each other, not for just the therapist to understand the client or vice versa," Mr Semertzidis said.
Mr Semertzidis and the rest of the researchers are currently on a new project, which seeks to expand the concept to the simulation of a mental state another person is experiencing.
"I think we could one day build entire worlds with people's emotions and thoughts that we can explore for ages. And I think that would be greatly beneficial to psychotherapy," Mr Semertzidis said.
