Product Details

 

    
vFriend System
 
vFriend is part of our overall product called the vFriend System.
 
The vFriend System consists of:
  1. vFriends
  2. vFriend Operations Center

vFriend Operations Center

 
The vFriend Operations Center runs in the cloud.
 

When a user provides health and wellness-related data to their vFriend, it sends the data to the Operations Center to be saved. In addition, the Operations Center communicates with each vFriend.

 
The Operations Center is used as follows:
 
1.  Staff of Health Care Providers and Wellness Service Providers

 

     Authorized staff can access the Operations Center to do the following:

     a)  View data / information provided patients / clients – to their vFriend

            i)    Determine how the patient / client is progressing

            ii)   Use the data to optimize the patient’s Care Plan or client’s Wellness Plan

            iii)  If the data implies some concern, staff can immediately intervene

     b)  Set up and personalize a patient’s / client’s vFriend

     Staff can access the Operations Center by computer and smartphone.
 
2.  Patients / Clients
 
Can access the Operations Center to view the health and wellness-related data and information that they provided to their vFriend.
     i)   To observe if they are making progress towards their goals

     ii)  Use to self-motivate themselves

     They can access the Operations Center by computer and smartphone.
 

 

vFriend System Is A Platform

 
The vFriend System is designed to be customized for customer organizations.

When a Health Care Provider or Wellness Service Provider wants to offer the vFriend System to their patients / clients, and their staff, we work with the organization to determine their requirements and then customize the System for them.

 

 

 

vFriend - More Details
 
vFriend Innovation
 
vFriend contains many innovative elements. They work together to create a powerful solution.

 

 1.  Computer-Human Verbal Interaction

vFriend includes Speech Recognition, Text-To-Speech and Natural Language Processing.

This enables vFriend and the user to easily and conveniently talk to each other.

 

 3.  Health and Well-Being Knowledge

Every vFriend possesses significant health and well-being knowledge. This includes psychological techniques, such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy.

It uses this knowledge when it provides mental health and physical health verbal assistance to the user.

 

5.  Natural Conversation Flow Modeling

Our company has done extensive analysis on the various ways that a person could verbally interaction with a human Health Assistant.

From this analysis, we created a model for the natural conversation flow between a person and their vFriend.

vFriend’s Virtual Brain uses this model when it verbally interacts with the user.

 

 

 2.  Virtual Brain

vFriend has decision-making capabilities, that we call the “Virtual Brain”.

As a conversation between the user and vFriend proceeds, the Virtual Brain analyses the situation and decides what it will do next.

 

4.  User Knowledge

Before a vFriend starts assisting a user, it is provided with user knowledge. This includes the user’s likes, dislikes and motivators.

vFriend uses this knowledge when it speaks behavior influencing words to help the user with self-care adherence.

 

6. Autonomous and Proactive Operation

All Computer-Human Verbal Interaction solutions enable the user to initiate a conversation.

More significantly, vFriend can also proactively initiate a conversation with the user – when specific conditions occur, such as a certain time.

Few, if any, alternative solutions do this as well.

The “Friend” Factor

 

The following happens to all of us: Someone will speak helpful words to you, and you take in those words and they help you.

But another person may speak similar words to you, and you may not be as receptive to them and the words may have little benefit on you.

Why is that?

The reason is that the first person was a friend of yours and the other person was not. You respect a friend. You trust that they care for your well-being and want the best for you.

When a friend says something to you, you - your brain - allow the words to impact you, your thinking, your behavior.

But when someone you don’t know well gives you seemingly helpful words, your brain may only allow the words to have limited impact on you.

vFriend is designed with the above in mind:

It is designed to be viewed by the user as a virtual friend. It does this by:

  1. Speaking words that communicate friendliness, caring, empathy, compassion
  2. Having a friendly appearance

These powerful psychological techniques are meant to maximize the effectiveness of vFriend in helping you, the user, have improved health and well-being.

 

 

Basic Operation

 

vFriend verbally interacts with the user in the same way that two people interact:

1.  User Can Start Up A Conversation

Whenever the user wants some health or well-being assistance from vFriend, the user starts speaking to it. vFriend then has a conversation with the user, and tries to verbally help.

2.  vFriend Can Start Up A Conversation

In addition, vFriend can proactively provide assistance to the user. At appropriate times, vFriend will start speaking to the user and proceed to try to help the user.