Apple to try adding mental health features to iPhone

Apple is working on a series of new programs to help iPhone users detect mental health issues such as stress, depression, anxiety and cognitive decline, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The projects are reportedly in collaboration with the University of California, Los Angeles and the biotech company BiGuin. Apple is working with the former to develop an algorithm that can detect stress, depression, and anxiety, a project codenamed "Seabreeze." On the other hand, the project with Biogen, codenamed "Pi," is studying mild cognitive impairment.

[[425000]]

IT Home learned that Apple will use algorithms to analyze users' facial expressions, speaking patterns, walking frequency and speed, sleep patterns, and heart and breathing rates to make diagnostic decisions. It will also check the frequency of typing errors and the type of text written by the user.

To avoid concerns related to data privacy, data analysis will not be sent to Apple's servers and everything will be done on the user's local device.