There has been a growing interest in using telemedicine for psychology as a way to make patients feel more comfortable speaking with a therapist by doing it from the privacy of their own home. But some companies are expanding the idea of telepsychology to avatars. One startup, Sense.ly, spinning out of telecom Orange Silicon Valley, sees avatars as an effective way to engage patients and check recovery progress, particularly those with an addiction problem.
Why? One reason, according to Ivana Schnur, a co- founder and CMO of Sense.ly, is that avatars aren’t people. At the recent the Health Technology Forum Innovation Conference, she cited research findings from a pilot program the company has been doing with Santa Cruz Medical Center focusing on addiction. Because avatars are not people, program participants said they didn’t feel as bad admitting that they had suffered a setback. She added that no matter how understanding therapists can be, the participants would be inclined to lie to a person because of the shame they feel when they fall off the wagon. Confessing to a machine is easier, Schnur said, because they are not deemed judgmental. “When you are going through a difficult process like sobriety, it can be difficult to admit we have fallen off the wagon. And no matter how understanding a therapist can be, people still lie.”
If the findings of the pilot are anything to go by, the company is positioned for growth not only because of the growing problem of physician and nursing shortages but also because the platform could have significant implications for improving adherence. In addition to checking recovery progress, the company is also offering its avatar technology as a pre-screening tool for new patients as well as as a way to follow up with patients once they are discharged to improve continuity of care and to reduce re-admissions.
Although avatars have been used in therapy for years, it’s mainly in the context of helping patients overcome social anxieties and notsomuch as a pre-screening device.
In an interview with MedCity News, Schnur said the company is also developing facial recognition and speech recognition software to assess the emotional state of patients at any given time to help providers improve their effectiveness.
Ivana Schnur, Sense.ly CMO
