The opportunity ‘is huge’: Why tech developers are trying to tackle mental health
SAN FRANCISCO — Here in the technology epicenter of the world, developers are increasingly writing code and launching products to try to disrupt yet another field: mental health.
Even as big tech players have conquered the markets in industries like transportation and lodging, they’ve largely steered clear of mental health treatment. Now, however, with an influx of funding, companies are revamping pills with digital sensors, designing virtual reality worlds to treat addiction and other conditions, and building chatbots for interactive therapy.
The excitement in the, a day of TED-Talk-style speeches that felt much like any of the other hackathons and demo days that clutter the calendar here. The venue was scattered with signs that trumpeted the event’s unusual mission: “Inspiring developers to build for mental health.”
