Press Release: Meet Digital JK – John Kirwan’s (better looking) virtual twin
Digital humans are a game changer for mental health and wellbeing.
Sir John Kirwan has been transformed into a digital human as Artificial Intelligence (AI) begins to play a significant role in supporting people’s mental wellbeing.
Digital JK – or DJK as he will be known – is a new feature of Mentemia, Kirwan’s mental wellbeing platform which gives people simple tools and techniques to include in their daily routine.
The first AI-powered version of Kirwan features DJK as a “Sleep Coach” who offers tips on sleep, answers sleep-based questions, and helps users develop a sleep improvement plan.
Kirwan says the first iteration of DJK will continue to develop further as he has more interaction with users and “learns” how to behave and respond.
“You can chat with DJK and help him grow,” says Kirwan. “As he learns more overtime, DJK will be able to offer more personalised advice and cover many more areas of wellbeing. We need to talk more about mental health and DJK offers people a different way to access information.
“We believe we’ve created the world's first digital human who is a mental health coach.”
Reaching more people in need
Kirwan says one of the key reasons for developing DJK was to provide additional support to the mental health sector and to reach more people in need.
“It’s well known there is a huge need for mental wellbeing support and using digital solutions is one of the most effective and efficient ways to reach as many people as possible.
“Digital humans are not a replacement for real therapists, but AI is a really important part of the future of mental wellbeing and Mentemia is at the forefront of that technology.
“We hope through DJK our users will see the potential of how AI can support their mental wellbeing in the future. As an additional digital support, we believe it is a valuable new option for people to consider.”
Creating Kirwan’s digital human
DJK was developed by digital human specialists, Uneeq, and AI conversation development experts, Ako, in conjunction with Kirwan and Mentemia’s team of medical advisors.
To create the digital version of Kirwan, 180 cameras were used to take hundreds of photos of his face from numerous angles. They captured different expressions and the minute detail of Kirwan’s facial features to create a 3D representation of the character which was used to sculpt DJK.
“It’s very similar to the technology used to create characters in the movies or in the gaming world,” says Shehan Bala, Director of Product at Uneeq.
The creators developed around 100 iterations of DJK before settling on the final version with features such as the texture of his “digital skin” and the enunciation of speech as close to the real JK as possible.
“The wrinkles have to look like his real wrinkles and getting things like DJK’s grin right is essential because the difference between creepy and natural is a lot finer than you think,” says Bala.
AI supporting mental wellbeing
Kirwan says incorporating AI technology into a digital tool such as Mentemia enhances the user experience and helps to improve evidence-based, personalised mental wellbeing advice.
A workplace survey conducted earlier this year by Oracle, in partnership with research company Workplace Intelligence, surveyed more than 12,000 employees across 11 countries and found:
82% of people believe robots can support their mental health better than humans
68% would prefer to talk to a robot over their manager about stress and anxiety at work
Researchers from the University of Southern California also found people were more open to revealing personal information to a virtual interviewer called Ellie than to a real therapist.
DJK is available as part of Mentemia’s new Premium subscription service for workplaces and businesses across New Zealand and Australia.
“We’re continuing to develop DJK to enable us to advance his capability so he can do more overtime,” says Kirwan.
“Good sleep is absolutely fundamental to good mental health. We can all relate to how we feel if we have a poor night’s sleep, so it was a natural place to start for DJK.”
Kirwan says Mentemia is developing more digital humans for the platform who will provide tips and help in other areas of mental wellbeing.
“DJK is just the start, paving the way for a range of expert digital humans who will be able to help a user with stress and anxiety, for example.”
DB Breweries, a foundation partner of Mentemia, took part in consumer testing to help bring DJK to life.
“I have seen DJK in action, and he is very reactive – much more realistic than I expected,” says Managing Director Peter Simons.
“I felt comfortable opening up about my sleep habits and getting tips to try from a digital human.”
Simons is excited about equipping everyone in the business with tools to improve their overall mental health and wellbeing.
“Working with Mentemia is about giving our people the tools to feel good and function at their peak. We’re all looking forward to seeing how DJK can help improve our sleep habits.”
The free version of Mentemia was made available for all Kiwis in April to help support mental wellbeing during the first Covid-19 lockdown. It has been downloaded more than 110,000 times across New Zealand and Australia.