Valerie

Chatbot for your mental health

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Demo Link

https://youtu.be/b4N71r0jaUA

Inspiration

Mental health is a topic that many people overlook. About 4.7% of those 15+ were suffering the effects of major depression in Canada before the pandemic (Yousif, 2021). As Covid unraveled, the number of people with depression doubled to about 13% (Yousif, 2021). Many people avoid or delay treatment due to the stigma surrounding mental health. With the use of technology, how can we improve people's mental wellness and get people to seek help without making it a big deal?

What is Valerie

Valerie is a mobile app chatbot that answers mental health related questions through speech.

How I built it

When a user asks a mental health related question using their phone mic, the app sends an audio containing the question to a server where it converts voice to text. Then, it comes up with an answer through the use Machine Learning. The app then converts the text response to speech and sends it back to the user's phone, playing the audio containing the response so that the user can hear.

Diagram

  • Expo & React Native frontend
  • Google Cloud & Python backend
  • Google Speech to Text API
  • Google Text to Speech API
  • Firestore database

Naming

  • Valerie is the French variant of the name Valeria and means ‘strength, health’ (Ahmed, 2021).

How is Valerie different from existing mental health chatbots

  • Valerie's voice functions enable visually impaired users to use it
  • Talk to someone without having to worry if you are bothering them
  • Have a conversation about mental health without making a big deal out of it

Challenges I ran into

  • Running out of time (having to do write documents, create graphics, make videos, make slides, conduct research, and code the project on my own)
  • Stuck on many errors when trying to use Jina for conversation data training
  • Had trouble accessing and sending audio recordings using Expo
  • Stuck on a bunch of errors when using Google Cloud Platform

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank all the mentors who have taken time out of their weekend to provide assistance at TechNova2021, especially the 5 patient mentors who have help me on my project.

Accomplishments I am proud of

  • Making my first working Expo application for the first time
  • Getting a website to work on Google Cloud Platform for the first time
  • Creating a working wesite with Python and Flask for the first time

What's next for Valerie

  • Improve chatbot response with Machine Learning
  • Expand device compatibility

Works Cited

Ahmed, A. (2021, March 5). 85 strong and Powerful girl names with Great Meanings. MomJunction. https://www.momjunction.com/articles/strong-and-powerful-girl-names_00400894/#:~:text=Strong%20And%20Powerful%20Girl%20Names%3A%201%201.%20Aadya%3A,4%204.%20Adira%3A%205%205.%20Bree%3A%20More%20items.

Banis, D. (2019, January 24). Mental illness is the most neglected health problem in the developing world. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidebanis/2019/01/24/mental-illness-is-the-most-neglected-health-problem-in-the-developing-world/?sh=45de8ef31db4.

CAMH. (n.d.). Mental illness and addiction: Facts and statistics. CAMH. https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/the-crisis-is-real/mental-health-statistics.

Canada, P. H. A. of. (2017, September 15). Government of Canada. Canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/about-mental-illness.html.

Yousif, N. (2021, January 4). The pandemic has taken a toll on mental health in Canada. will It also change mental health care? thestar.com. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/01/04/the-pandemic-has-taken-a-toll-on-mental-health-in-canada-will-it-also-change-mental-health-care.html.

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