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Japan has a high number of suicides and the lowest rate of psychiatric consultations among developed countries in the world.
The cultural roots of this is are many, but most point to Japanese society’s placing the group over the individual and the adulation of gaman - the ability to stoically endure hardships. In Europe and North America counseling is commonplace and widespread, and there is an overall better understanding and acceptance of mental health issues. In Japan, however, consultation with a professional counselor is a high hurdle to clear both psychologically and financially. There are a great number of startups in Japan tackling these issues with technology.
Emol is an application for recording your emotions while talking with an AI. The purpose of this application is to confront your own emotions while talking with AI in a casual manner. ‘Emol for Employee’ is a digital self-care program that promotes mental health care for employees through chat conversations with AI, practicing mental self-care based on cognitive behavioral therapy.
Vanguard Industries, Inc. has been developing MOFLIN, a pet-type robot with fluffy fur, adorable meows and gestures, and a size that fits in both hands, making it as lovable as a real living thing. It is also equipped with AI to have ‘feelings’. It expresses emotions as if it were a real living creature, and can also be a comforting presence for people.
In order to give this robot animality, the company's proprietary AI models the emotional characteristics and growth of the creature, allowing MOFLIN to develop its own personality based on experience and respond differently to its owner's actions. In this way, MOFLINs are able to replicate real-life creature-like qualities, but without the expense of feeding and veterinary care compared to real animals.
The Employer Success Platform, wellday has begun a collaboration with Kitasato University in 2021 for the first academic demonstration of AI-based prediction of employee engagement metrics from communication tools in Japan. With the spread of remote work and the expansion of organizations, it is becoming increasingly difficult to notice changes in employee behavior and condition.
Three features of wellday include an AI predicting employee engagement based on text data from communication tools, weekly employee reports, and proposed actions to improve engagement based on the supervision of HR consultants.
HIKARI CLINIC (Okayama, Japan) and Psychic VR Lab (Shinjuku, Tokyo) have jointly developed the VR psychological counseling room "HIKALY”.
Based on the knowledge gained from more than 12 years of operating an isolation tank by HIKARI CLINIC, HIKALY is a "mental space" based on the similarity between the special perceptual effects in VR/metaverse space and the deep relaxation obtained in an isolation tank.
Psychic VR Lab, a joint developer with HIKALY, also develops and operates STYLY, an AR/VR platform that provides artists with a place for spatial expression.
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