Talis — A Design Study for a Wearable Device to Assist People with Depression

Abstract

One of the major diseases affecting the global population, depression has a strong emotional impact on its sufferers. In this design study, "Talis" is presented as a wearable device which uses emotion recognition as an interface between patient and machine to support psychotherapeutic treatment. We combine two therapy methods, "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy" and "Well-Being Therapy", with interactive methods thought to increase their practical application potential. In this study, we draw on the results obtained in the area of "affective computing" for the use of emotions in empathic devices. The positive and negative phases experienced by the patient are identified through speech recognition and used for direct communication and later evaluation. After considering the design possibilities and suitable hardware, the future realization of such technology appears feasible. In order to design the wearable, user studies and technical experiments were carried out. The results of these suggest that the device could be beneficial for the treatment of patients with depression.