– Stress management service ‘Lime AI’ reaches 10,000 monthly active users in just 2 weeks of launch
– Stress analysis based on language patterns, 31 customized coping strategies provided
– Enhanced reliability, professionalism, and usability
“When people are stressed or depressed, it is burdensome to go to the hospital, and it is also difficult to confide in a friend. Blue Signum is somewhere in between a hospital and a friend. It is professional, but easy to find, anytime, anywhere.”
Lime AI, which was officially launched at the MWC (Mobile World Congress) last March, achieved 10,000 monthly active users in just two weeks after its launch. Currently, 14,000 users are using Lime AI. Lime AI is a stress management service that analyzes users' conversations to assess their stress levels and suggests coping strategies appropriate for the situation. It is also receiving favorable responses in the global market, ranking first in new health apps in the UK and Canada and second in the US.
We met with CEO Jeong-Hyeon Yoon at the Bluesignum office in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, and talked about Lime AI and its services, 'Harukong' and 'Moody', which help with mental health through emotional recording and management.
Started to address accessibility issues in mental health
“I started it because I wanted to solve accessibility issues in the mental health field.”
CEO Yoon Jeong-hyun founded Bluesignum after realizing that there was no effective approach to mental health problems. The importance of mental health is growing, but there are many barriers to actually receiving counseling or treatment. Not only is the financial burden of over 100,000 won per session burdensome, but waiting for more than a month is also burdensome. The biggest barrier is the social perception of psychiatric counseling.
“We needed a service that was readily available when we were feeling stressed or depressed. Worldwide, 300 million people experience depression, but only 20% actually start treatment. I wanted to change that.”
Representative Yoon especially emphasized that Korea's situation is one in which the environment is more vulnerable to stress.
“Korea is a densely populated and competitive environment, so mental health management is even more important. In the US, there is a mindset that ‘if you fail, you can just move to another state,’ but in Korea, one failure often affects your entire career. In this environment, stress management is even more important.”
Bluesignum aims to combine medical expertise and technical capabilities to create a mental health management service that is both accessible and scientifically based. This is why CEO Yoon founded Bluesignum with the goal of becoming “the first name that anyone in the world calls for on a gloomy day.”
Stress analysis by language patterns, 31 customized coping strategies provided
Lime AI's biggest feature is that it analyzes the user's language patterns to assess their stress level.
“According to a study published in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America) (an academic journal published by the National Academy of Sciences of the United States that publishes research papers in various fields such as science, medicine, biology, and physics), it was revealed that a person’s psychological state can be identified through the function words, vocabulary, and expression patterns they use. For example, there is a correlation between stress and how often the word “I” is used and how often emphatic adverbs such as “really” are used. Bluesignum developed a deep learning model that analyzes these language patterns.
Lime AI analyzes the user's conversation to assess the user's stress level in five stages and suggests the most appropriate strategy. It includes 31 different strategies, including self-encouragement, reflection and observation, deep breathing, pruning, emotional labeling, relaxation, photosynthesis, distancing, emotional expression, grounding, and goal clarification.
The strategy is specific. For example, breathing techniques do not simply say, “Take a deep breath,” but suggest specific methods that are appropriate for the situation, such as, “Inhale quickly and exhale long,” or “Inhale slowly and exhale quickly.”
Another great advantage is that it suggests a customized strategy that takes into account the user’s situation and energy level. If you are tired, it recommends rest rather than exercise. “We figure out if you can change the situation and if you have the energy to act, and then suggest the most appropriate strategy,” explained CEO Yoon.
Bluesignum plans to develop Lime AI into a service for single-person households, the middle-aged, and the elderly, and develop a voice service that can be used in vehicles in the future.
“Lime AI targets people in their 30s,” said CEO Yoon. “While Harukong and Moody focused on emotional recording and management, Lime provides more practical and professional stress coping strategies. It is closest to the service we ultimately wanted to create from the beginning of our company.”
'Harukong' and 'Moody' to help mental health through emotional recording and management
In addition to Lime AI, Bluesignum also operates two other services, ‘Harukong’ and ‘Moody’.
Harukong is a mood tracker and emotional diary service. You can simply record your daily emotions and daily routine with just a few taps. It analyzes what activities make you feel good or bad and helps you understand yourself. Recently, it has signed a contract with Disney and is expanding its services to meet the needs of its main users, women in their 10s and 20s, by releasing themes based on Disney characters. It has recorded a cumulative 10 million downloads to date and is the No. 1 mood tracker in the US, Canada, and the UK. It has been selected as the App of the Day on the App Store more than 10 times and was also selected as the App of the Year on Google Play for 3 consecutive years.
Moody is an emotion management service. You can record your emotions by chatting with cute characters, and receive quest cards that match your emotions to relieve stress. It provides over 1,500 modules based on psychiatry, counseling psychology, and clinical psychology. For example, if a user inputs their emotions when they are annoyed or angry, they will be suggested various ways to relieve their emotions, from light activities like 'going for a walk' or 'clapping their feet' to 'writing' quests. Recently, they are updating to maximize rapport (trust relationship) with characters, and they have also added a function to receive a letter the next morning based on the emotions recorded the previous day. The main users are women in their 10s and 20s.
Strengthening credibility and professionalism
Bluesignum's differentiating points are 'reliability' and 'expertise'. It has increased its expertise by forming a team of doctors, AI researchers specializing in psychology, and professional counselors. It is developing services based on credible data such as the latest research papers in the fields of neuroscience, psychiatry, and psychology. 'Credit Mark', scheduled to be released this month, is expected to further increase reliability for users by indicating the source of information.
Another difference is the protection of user privacy. Bluesignum does not use user data for learning or analysis. In order to create an environment where users can comfortably talk about their concerns, all data is encrypted and cannot be viewed.
Bluesignum is making various efforts to verify the effectiveness of Lime AI. It has also started a study on how stress changes with the use of Lime AI, targeting approximately 200 users in the United States who are experiencing stress, together with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) affiliated with Harvard Medical School.
We are focusing on improving usability as well as professionalism. We are checking user feedback and continuously reflecting it in service development. We are also running a 'Deep Dive Week' program where we invite users to the office, introduce products, listen to their feedback, and reflect it in service development.
“The mental health tech market is still in its infancy”
Yoon believes that the mental health tech market is still in its infancy.
“If you meet with a specialist for 1 hour a week, we are targeting the remaining 23 hours of 6 days. Users are still at the stage where they relieve stress by saying ‘I tried a certain service’ or ‘I had a drink with a friend’ or ‘I watched Netflix.’ This means that the market is still in its early stages. In addition to existing hospitals and psychological counseling, online services are emerging, but this is only one step closer to accessibility. I don’t think there is a service with high accessibility based on technology yet.”
Meditation apps are relatively well-known, but they have limitations in that they do not allow two-way communication. “Meditation is a very good method, but since it provides one-way audio, users often respond by saying, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ or ‘I don’t know what to do.’ User-based customized, two-way communication is important,” said Yoon.
To make mental health management a part of daily life
Bluesignum is planning to provide services to Koreans living overseas who are not familiar with the local language in overseas markets. “There are many Koreans in the U.S. or Japan who have a need for psychological counseling, but it is often difficult to access due to language barriers. We plan to provide services that allow conversation in their native language and expand to local people in the long term.”
Bluesignum aims to go beyond a simple app service and support mental health management in all spaces of daily life.
“Our ultimate goal is ‘making mental health management a part of daily life.’ We hope that services that record emotions with Harukong, manage small stresses in daily life with Moody, and solve deeper concerns with Lime AI will naturally become part of people’s daily lives.”
Recommend 'active communication' and 'objective viewing'
“Many leaders tend to worry about uncertain situations or make difficult decisions alone. However, I tend to share important concerns with my team members. There are pros and cons, but I believe that transparent communication creates a healthier organizational culture in the long run.”
CEO Yoon says that thanks to this communication method, work stress is relatively low. He says that a culture of sharing concerns has been established within the team, allowing them to respond more effectively to problem-solving.
As personal stress management methods, he recommended ‘social distancing’ and ‘intentional activity switching.’
“For work-life balance, I intentionally block out work thoughts and focus on other activities. It is important to have at least 1-2 hours of time completely separate from work during holidays. Stress increases when you are too absorbed in yourself and greedy. Many CEOs tend to be perfectionists, so if you think of yourself as a family member or friend and give objective advice, the situation can improve significantly,” he advised.
Blue Signum is creating a new paradigm in mental health management. The journey to become the 'first name people around the world look for on a gloomy day' is anticipated.
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