GFT presents CODE_n: SOMA Analytics uses big data and mobiles to help companies cope with the impact of employees stress
Previously, I put the spotlight on one of the CODE_n startups from the UK: Viewsy. The next CODE_n hopeful to go under the microscope is healthcare big data startup SOMA Analytics. This East London basedbased startup was founded in Germany but moved to London to follow the money (and customers), so to speak, as they received their first funding from the UK. The company was created by four founders whose mutual friend had begun to suffer from mental health issues.
Looking back over the six months before the issue had reached a serious level they realised that if they’d been aware of and had understood the issues they could have helped him with earlier intervention.
Peter Schneider, Fabian Alt, Christopher Lorenz
Out of a shared concern for their friend they came to realise that key indicators based upon the results of scientific research could provide the foundation for a 21 day program which could help highlight stress-related issues as well as provide a path to a more stress-free lifestyle.
One of the key indicators of stress can be seen in sleep patterns. The SOMA Analytics application can help to detect and assess how healthy our sleep patterns are. A mobile phone placed on a mattress can be used to monitor how well we sleep. Johann Huber, one of the founders, explained: “We have a regular pattern of sleep which means we do wake up a few times a night, a throwback to the part of the mutual security system of humans living in the wild whereby one of the group is always awake and ready to warn the others of any threats. We don’t usually remember these periods of consciousness, but when we are stressed we often experience a much more interrupted sleep pattern. Losing just six hours of sleep per week can have a massive impact on our mental wellbeing.”
In addition to the issue of sleep quality factors, the mobile phone can provide other key information. For example, phone calls can be analysed to determine the frequency of the person’s voice to pick up signals to determine how stressed they are. In addition, it can also be used to measure hand-to-eye coordination, another indicator which can point to any excessive stress that we are under.
The corporate 21-day program is likely to be popular with Human Resource departments across financial service companies and in other high pressure environments to help increase employee health and reduce the risk of executive burnout. Through the programme employees learn for example how long they individually should sleep to be recharged best or if they are the type that recharges better if going to bed early or late. Besides that through the combination of measurement and analysis many more highly useful tips are provided, that can not only reduce the effect of stress but also increase the level of productivity.
I am very pleased that Christopher Lorenz, one of the founders of SOMA Analytics, will be joining CODE_n, GFT, Clemens Weisshaar and EY for the media preview of CODE_n 2014 on February 18th. Media interested in attending should contact the GFT PR team on gftteam@omarketing.com. The SOMA Analytics team are also excited about getting to back to their homeland at CeBIT 10-14th March.
