Can a machine actually be able to quantify feelings? That remains a very difficult question to answer, and until someone can come up with a clear cut formula to determine whether you are depressed, angry, sad, or joyful, there is no clear cut indicator for those who are on the borderline. Well, a smartphone app might just open up Pandora’s Box, as researchers over at Dartmouth have come up with an Android app which will be able to check on student behavior.
This particular app claims to be able to do just that by logging the amount of time that one spends sleeping, the kind of conversations that one has throughout the day, the number of hours spent in a class, being at social events or even working out at the gym. Not only that, it is said to be able to keep check on one’s stress levels as well as eating habits.
It will then take all of that gathered information and rely on well-known mental health surveys as a benchmark, helping the app “determine” if a particular student were to feel depressed, stressed out or lonely. Do you think that this is one particular app that you would have liked to see installed on your phone when you were a sophomore? [Research Paper]