With nearly 14,000 start-ups, and artificial intelligence stealing the spotlight, this year’s tech fair puts a surprising focus on mental health
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VivaTech opened its doors this Wednesday in Paris, marking the start of Europe’s most important tech and startup annual event.
With more than 165,000 expected visitors and nearly 14,000 startups from over 50 countries, the ninth edition of the event is set to be the biggest yet.
Just like last year, artificial intelligence (AI) is the star of the show. But this time, some of the most attention-grabbing innovations are those applying AI and tech to health care and mental well-being.
“Artificial intelligence is moving from science fiction to real-life application. And visitors will discover with the more than 13,000 start-ups what it is going to mean for business, for our everyday lives and our democracies," said François Bitouzet, Director General of VivaTech.
There is a geopolitical context that is incredible in which tech and AI play a role, and we will analyse this during the next four days," he told Euronews.
In a year marked by increasing geopolitical tensions and debates around technological sovereignty, Europe is looking to assert itself as a key player in AI innovation.
But the tech fair also serves as a platform to explore how this technology can help address deeply human challenges.
Tracking facial expressions to monitor depression
One such example is Emobot, a French startup developing an AI-powered tool that helps monitor mood disorders through a patient’s facial expressions and voice.
“It’s an app that is installed on the phone and on the computer. We analyse facial expressions every second while the patient uses their phone throughout the day," explained Antony Perzo, co-founder and CTO of Emobot.
"We also analyse their voice. Then, we aggregate this data to monitor for symptoms of depression. All this data, we put it together and then make a dashboard for the doctor that allows them to follow the evolution of the mood disorder symptoms," he told Euronews.
All this information is combined to generate a dashboard for doctors, allowing them to track the evolution of symptoms remotely.
“Psychiatry is one of the few disciplines where we can’t visualise disorders. In other areas of medicine, we have MRIs or imaging tools. We wanted to create the first device capable of tracking and visualising mood symptoms over time. Think of it as a sort of thermometer for mental health”, he said.
Perfume meets neuroscience
Another mental health startup, AMOI, blends neuroscience with perfume to shift a person's mood in just minutes.
Whether you're looking for focus, calm, energy or joy, AMOI claims its neuro-fragrances can deliver results within five minutes.
With more than one in four people reporting feeling mentally unwell, AMOI's founder Pascale Fontaine, says her project is about offering accessible and enjoyable tools for emotional well-being.
VivaTech runs until 14 June at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris.