Here comes the app that helps you relax and rekindle concentration in studying and working against smartphone stress. It is called “Mind Your Time” and is the idea born from a group of friends all under 30 – three psychologists, two computer scientists and an economist – led by Mattia Minzolini, a former student of the University of Milan-Bicocca, where he attended the three-year degree course in psychological sciences and techniques. The project was selected as part of the third Biunicrowd call, the University’s alternative finance program, promoted to allow students, former students, professors, researchers and employees to carry out innovative projects and business ideas through fundraising campaigns.
The challenge begins today on Produzioni dal basso, a crowdfunding platform and social innovation: 45 days to raise 10 thousand euros. This sum will be used to develop and launch the free version of the app dedicated to digital detox and mental well-being on the market. “Mind Your Time” aims to become an ally against hyperconnectivity, digital compulsion and technostress. It is equipped with a system for monitoring the use of individual apps and the entire device. Under the guidance of the app, the user can select the items to monitor and set time-limit thresholds, after which he is notified. At this point an avatar enters the scene that proposes a series of activities and techniques typical of the psychology of well-being: meditation, visualization, relaxation, activation, focusing and expressive writing. Short training sessions lasting between 3 and 20 minutes.
The activities are structured according to progression levels that are unlocked once you pass the previous level, like in a game. The contents for well-being are personalized not only thanks to the monitoring of smartphone use, but also on the basis of the psychophysical condition of the individual. To propose the most suitable training, the app interacts with the user inviting him to express his mood quickly and intuitively through an emoticon system. And so, a person who feels happy will be offered different stimuli than another who is angry at a certain moment.
“Mind Your Time – explains Minzolini – is a positive technology that places the experience and well-being of the person at the center and adopts a scientific approach typical of psychoeducation. If the collection campaign hits the target – he continues – in September we will launch the first free version of the app, while the premium version will also arrive by the end of the year. Looking further into the future, we want to enhance the app’s features thanks to artificial intelligence, with an “emotional tracking” mechanism based on recognition facial expressions and with a customization system of the proposed contents based on the user’s personality “.