Wearables can already track your steps, sleep and heart rate but in the future they could also be used to monitor your mood.
Wearables (a.k.a Wearable technology, wearable devices, fashion electronics) are clothing and accessories incorporating computer and advanced electronic technologies. An example is the Apple Watch.
Google Life Sciences recently hired leading mental health expert Dr Thomas Insel (seen in pic above) to help develop sensors 'that give you very objective measures of your behaviour.'
These sensors could analyse a person's language for early signs of psychosis, monitor levels of anxiety, or encourage wearers to take clinical tests in order to measure mental health.
Dr Insel sees technology as the answer to 'detecting, diagnosing, and treating' such mental illness.
Elsewhere, researchers from the University of Cambridge's Computer Laboratory recently developed the Emotion Sense app that acted like a 'therapist in your pocket.
It used sensors to collect and track information about phone calls and texts, as well as ambient noise, to determine how much the users was moving around and who they were communicating with, their patterns, then offered tips, advice and support.
Earlier this year, Asus revealed its VivoWatch with Happiness Index that claims to be able to track how a wearer is feeling. It tracks the wearer's activity levels and sleeping habits before awarding their overall health a numerical score on this index.
A low score lets the wearer know that they should adjust their exercise and sleep habits to achieve optimal health.
Do you like the idea of Google knowing how you feel?
Yay or Nay?
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