SBIR Phase I:A mental health screening tool for youth using AI and game-based technology

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is improve pediatric mental health outcomes.An estimated twenty percent of children suffer with a diagnosable mental health condition and half of those will show signs and symptoms before the age of 14. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among children aged 10+; affected children that do not receive intervention or appropriate services grow into adults with adverse outcomes.The proposed project develops a modern mental health screener to equip clinicians and educate families by trackingmental health vital signs similar to height, weight, hearing, vision and other signs of health.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will advance a new mental health screening tool. In a gamified, web-based platform, children aged 4-18 will engage in a dynamic question set designed to identify risk factors known as indicators of mental health concerns. Using a novel combination of artificial intelligence for voice and facial biomarkers, sentiment analysis and machine learning, the screener will provide a first-of-its-kind mental health baseline used by doctors and families to better understand the child’s unique mental health.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.