It's time to discover
a new way to care for
mental health.
Clinical wisdom enhanced by data science.
Transform data into clinical information and achieve more effective results.
Mental health challenges impact over a billion people worldwide. The advent of standardized questionnaires over a century ago represented a substantial leap in mental health science. Yet, this predominantly declarative approach has its limitations. By relying on endorsements of self-reported statements, it confines the complex spectrum of human emotions and experiences within rigid boundaries.
At Wida, we are now using AI to pioneer beyond these constraints by developing a groundbreaking LLM-powered conversational agent. This tool will transcend traditional questionnaire methods by focusing not just on declarative contents, but also capturing performative aspects of communication – how things are said, in context and interaction.
This approach aligns more closely with the nuanced evaluation methods of mental health professionals, offering a richer, more dynamic understanding of mental states. Deepening our comprehension of the human mind will provide insights that can revolutionize mental health research, enhance self-awareness, and integrate patient perspectives more effectively in clinical practice.
We envision this tool as a step towards a future where mental health care is more personalized, empathetic, and inclusive. New possibilities in mental well-being can be unlocked by harnessing AI for gaining deeper insights into the complexities of the human mind.
ABOUT US
As featured in
Christian Kieling, MD, PhD
Psychiatrist and researcher, understands that in medicine, as in life, everything starts with a comprehensive evaluation of the problem. He fell in love with clinical practice through systematic psychiatric assessment, without ever neglecting attentive listening. His professional practice is grounded in the premise that accurate understanding is the foundation of any effective therapeutic process. He is currently faculty at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, having based his trajectory on evidence-based practice and publishing more than 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He has acted as a consultant for national and international agencies, including the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM), United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), World Health Organization (WHO), the American Psychiatric Association (for the DSM-5-TR) and World Psychiatric Association (WPA), of which he is an honorary member. He coordinates a multinational network of researchers focused on early identification of depression in adolescence, having been awarded research grants from international bodies such as the National Institute of Mental Health (United States), MQ: Transforming Mental Health, the Academy of Medical Sciences, and the Royal Academy of Engineering (United Kingdom). Unsettled by the missed opportunities to improve clinical outcomes through the incorporation of technological resources in mental health care, he began to develop tools for digital phenotyping, returning to the origins to innovate the way clinical assessment and patient care are conducted.
Ricardo Araújo, PhD
Computer Scientist, has been working for over fifteen years as a researcher and consultant in Data Science, even before this term existed. A specialist in Machine Learning, he has always sought to go beyond the academic walls, developing ideas and helping others to build theirs. He founded the Hub of Innovation in Artificial Intelligence alongside the Federal University of Pelotas, where he was until recently an associate professor, assisting companies and entrepreneurs to understand and adopt AI techniques. He has acted as a consultant for various international companies, such as Google, and is a researcher at the Innovation Center on Artificial Intelligence for Health. He believes that AI will bring great benefits – and proportional challenges – to technology and medical practice. Currently, he is focused on using data science and AI to expand and improve mental health care.
Renata Kieling, MD, PhD
Renata started her academic life in the realm of language and linguistics, before migrating to medicine. Following a doctorate in neurosciences, she became a pediatrician. Then came pediatric neurology, motherhood of two, and a position as associate professor of medicine at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. She found a way to merge all her passions, working both in clinical practice with children and as language consultant for medical and scientific publishers. In all she does - from clinical research to article production, and daily practice with patients - she cares about words and the clarity of the message, attentive to the difference that a comma out of place can make. In her daily life, she lives immersed in the fascinating world of typical and atypical children, as a specialist in child development and its disorders.