So why create a new way for assessing mental health? Apparently, clinicians are interested in new ways to provide mental health assessments that engage people to participate. So the team from 8 Bit Cortex identified ways to create a game for part of the assessments to make the process more interesting to keep them engaged.
In Episode 3, Ty McKinney shares how their prototype App solves a key challenge for both clinicians giving the tests, and for people uncomfortable taking the test.
8 Bit Cortex has created a minimally viable product (MVP) as an App Prototype for a pilot stage, for use by both clinicians administering the assessments, and as well, a solution for individuals who may want to take the assessment remotely in the safety of their own space or home.
To create their MVP, Shannon Snaden explains that the 8 Bit Cortex team bootstrapped their way – accessing resources available through Neuro Nexus, Canada Starts, StartUp Calgary, and micro grants.
About Shannon Snaden MBA, CRM
Co-founder
Shannon enjoys helping entrepreneurs to bring science out of the lab to build healthier communities. She brings her business development skills to 8 Bit Cortex as a co-founder and project manager. Her studies focused on entrepreneurship including exchanges to the oldest entrepreneurial hub in the world at Emlyon in Lyon, France and import/export studies at IPADE in Mexico City. She was also an ambassador for the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurship and a student consultant for a healthcare start-up at Creative Destruction Lab. She enjoys participating in healthcare-related hackathons including winning two COVID-19 MIT hackathons in 2020.
About Ty McKinney
Co-Founder
Ty is completing his PhD at the University of Utah on brainwave technology in mental health assessment. As the Research Director for Branch Out, and a consultant for ConsciousWorks, Ty is passionate about science outreach for health living. As a co-founder, Ty brings these skills to 8 Bit Cortex, a mental health, tech Startup Company. When not thinking about the brain, Ty can be found exploring nature, or planning a tiny home in the Canadian Rockies.
About Eden Redman BSc
CTO
Over the past several years, Eden has worked diligently to forge Edmonton and Alberta-wide communities around biotech & neurotech that span academia, medicine, and industry. From an expertise in neuroscience and programming to his penchant for software and product development he is poised to kickstart any great idea!
About 8 Bit Cortex
Now more than ever are we aware of the mental health challenges our society faces and the need for affordable and accessible tools to tackle it. Before we can fix mental health, we have to understand it, so 8 Bit Cortex is gamifying the psychological assessment process. While mental health assessments can be so tedious to fill out, our platform makes collecting mental health information more engaging and our analytics can help provide people with insight and personalized content on how to best approach their own struggles.
