Date: Monday, 31 August 2015, 19:00h - 20:00h

Title: Exploiting images and technology to improve mental disorders

While the advancements in medicine is contributing towards an increase in the expected lifetime of people, the negative impact of unhealthy mental states, such as the depressive disorder and anxiety disorders, is on the increase (mental health gap). This is a worldwide increasing problem, partly because of ageing and population growth which is effecting an increase in the costs of health-care and a reduction in the work force. Given the high prevalence of mental disorders and its high recurrence rate, developing technical tools that can empower people to help themselves dealing with mental health problems lifelong, is crucial.

The aim of this talk is to discuss how innovations in technology might contribute to decrease the enormous negative impact of mental health. We give examples of the use of diverse technology (e.g., internet interventions as treatment for mental health disorders, apps, lifelogging, serious games, virtual reality, facial recognition, biometrics from wearables), discuss the empirical status and demonstrate some of the existing interventions. In addition, we would like to discuss options for bridging the fields of computer science and psychology.