A new wearable technology has been developed by a company called Moodbeam in which one's emotional state can be relayed back to their employer in an attempt to improve mental health conditions for people working from home.
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A wristband designed to track your mood
Similar to silicone wristbands that monitor your heart rate and optimize fitness goals, this new gadget's aim is to help employers keep track of their employees' overall mood as working from homehas been proven to have a negative impact on one's mental health.
The person wearing the wristband simply presses the yellow button if they are happy or the blue button if they are not. The gadget is linked to a mobile app and web interface that tracks the user's mood throughout the week and relays the information back to their employer.
This is a convenient alternative for bosses who wish to keep track of the wellbeing of their employees now that physical contact has been severely restricted. With no signs of returning to offices anytime soon, the technology provided by Moodbeam seeks to bridge the gap between employer and employee.
Moodbeam co-founder Christina Colmer McHugh says that:
Businesses are trying to get on top of staying connected with staff working from home. Here they can ask 500 members: 'You ok?' without picking up the phone.
Two times the benefits
This will not only assure that a company's employees are being cared for but, as a result, it will also generally improve the employee's overall productivity. The logic by many experts is that the happier an employee is the more they will strive to be the best they can be.
UK-based charity Brave Mind has taken on board the new mood-tracking technology and reports having been crucial in aiding employees struggling at home, as explained by trustee Paddy Burtt:
One member of the team was in an uncomfortable place, struggling with a huge workload, and disillusioned with what was going on. It's not something he would have flagged up, and we wouldn't have known about it unless we had seen the data.
