Bipolar Bird

Recognizing Mania Before It Escalates

Inspiration

This project was inspired by Viky's personal experience living with bipolar I disorder and experiencing manic episodes. These experiences highlighted how difficult it can be to recognize warning signs before an episode escalates. We wanted to explore whether technology could help people identify potential changes earlier and connect them with support before a crisis occurs.

How We Built It

We combined Presage's biometric monitoring technology with Google's Gemini API to explore detecting sustained physiological changes relative to a person's baseline. When concerning patterns are identified, the system can alert the user and, with their consent, notify designated family members and their psychiatrist to encourage follow-up care. We also explored using GoDaddy to support our web infrastructure.

What We Learned

We learned that AI can potentially help transform continuous biometric data into meaningful, actionable insights. We also learned the importance of distinguishing an early warning from a medical diagnosis. Physiological changes alone cannot confirm mania, so our project is designed to complement—not replace—professional psychiatric care.

Challenges

One major challenge was determining how to interpret abnormal biometric patterns without generating misleading alerts. Another was protecting sensitive health information while involving family members and clinicians. We recognized the importance of personalized baselines, sustained changes, explicit consent, and clinical oversight.

Our Goal

We hope to help people with bipolar disorder recognize potential warning signs earlier, seek support sooner, and reduce the risk of crises through proactive, privacy-conscious technology.