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Tech start-up Soldier.ly launches app to combat stress

By Olivia Atkins | Branded Content Writer

September 11, 2019 | 3 min read

Award-winning tech start-up, Soldier.ly, has appointed Australian creative digital development agency, The Project Factory - Way To Blue’s global digital development arm - as its exclusive tech partner to launch an innovative app to fight PTSD.

The Project Factory will be the exclusive tech partner to build and develop Id.Stress, a suite of software which uses unique algorithms to combat stress and help ward off the likes of PTSD, suicide and depression.

Id.Stress is the brainchild of Chris Rhyss Edwards, a former army combat engineer who built the app as a way of tackling PTSD, which he still suffers from, to help former military veterans feel better equipped with facing the future. The smartwatch-based app is designed to prevent repeat behaviour by creating genuine behavioural change.

The Project Factory developed and built two apps associated with the Id.Stress ecosystem, which include a watch, developed on the Fitbit platform and the Id.Stress phone app, available on Android and iPhone.

The watch monitors various factors such as heart rate, heart rate variability and movement to detect stress signals. If the device detects stress, it will ask the wearer if they would like to do some breathing exercises or a guided meditation to help relieve and soothe symptoms immediatedly.

The companion phone app integrates with Fitbit’s API’s to present up-to-date data, meditation exercises, and access to helplines for people that might need additional support.

Edwards, the soldier turned digital marketing executive who has spent the last two years bringing the app to life, is thrilled to have the right tech partner to bring it to market.

“The fundamental aim of the Id.Stress app was always to help veterans manage stress in their lives. Our aim isn’t to cure stress per se, rather to help veterans take control of stress and reduce the impact of stressful incidents. After the app identifies stress, it then triages the use through exercises designed to help them reduce stress, before suggesting alternative support pathways, including connecting them with friends, local support services or even LifeLine. Our research and testing to date show us that intervening early during stress incidence and then connecting people with appropriate levels of support in real-time has a significant impact on reducing stress,” said Edwards.

Kat Robinson, who leads the digital development team behind the app, said: “We have worked closely with Chris and his team over the last six months to build both the Fitbit and cross-platform phone apps. Using a person’s passive vital readings, the apps feature algorithms to detect stress during sleep, monitoring steps taken per day and provides useful relaxation techniques to help people ultimately relax and reduce their stress levels. We know that behavioural change occurs with the right motivational features to allow the user to explore and learn. The team have been brilliant allowing us to be flexible and innovate quickly, tweaking the unique algorithm as we proceed through trial to provide greater results."

Soldier.ly plans to expand its focus and develop a corporate ‘workplace wellness’ program to enable a broader base and support businesses by monitoring stress data within and across organisations. By securely collecting the anonymised data of employees, Soldier.ly hopes to help larger organisations to manage staff wellness and identify organisational stress trends and triggers that can then be addressed to reduce stress-related workplace productivity and absenteeism.

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