Top Three Technology Trends to Watch in 2019

1. Artificial Intelligence

While artificial intelligence (AI) has been applied in medicine and healtcare since the 1970s, applications in psychology and mental healthcare are still scarce. However, thanks to the “commoditization of AI” pushed by Amazon Machine Learning services, Azure Machine Learning, Google Cloud AI, and IBM Watson developers can now connect their own applications to “ready to use” AI-based tools. The increased access to easy-to-use and affordable AI services may facilitate the integration of machine learning in several tools to improve decisions associated with the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of people suffering from mental illness. ¹

2. Augmented Reality

Virtual reality applications in mental healthcare are increasing rapidly. Yet, the potential opportunities offered by augmented reality (AR) for psychological training, research, and practice are almost unexplored. One of the main reasons why AR has been neglected in cyberpsychology is because of the poor quality user experience and the scarcity of contents. However, in the next few years, AR technology will radically improve, thanks to the introduction of novel headsets, gestural interfaces, and sensory feedback that merge the physical and the digital worlds. The increasing availability of affordable and high quality AR interfaces may lead to a number of applications based on “phygital” scenarios. For example, AR-based exposure therapy may provide novel ways of treating phobias or neuropsychological disorders, as has already been suggested by some authors. ²

3. Affective Computing

Although affective computing is not a new trend, its applications in psychology are not widespread. In fact, up to now, this approach has been mainly applied in video games, human–robot interaction, and e-learning programs. However, the automatic detection of a user's emotional states from verbal and nonverbal behaviours could be of great help in several psychological areas. For example, it could be used to support the therapist during teletherapy sessions, helping the therapist to understand what the patient is feeling, even if the client isn't physically present. Or it could be integrated in automated Internet-delivered cognitive–behavioral intervention programs to improve personalization of interventions and increase compliance.

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