Our Science & Studies
HiJo has been carefully developed from research design, which incorporated hundreds of hours of design-thinking sessions with teachers, students and parents across the globe. These studies sought to implicitly understand the student’s relationship to the classroom environment, curriculum, mentors and peers, using those insights to shape our approach to this very real issue.
This research, along with numerous scientific studies by notable industry experts in the fields of early emotional development, child and young adult behaviours, psycho-social aspects of motor behaviour, and physical activity and nutrition has been our guiding light in the development of the HiJo wellness ecosystem.
The data HiJo collects is also based on science. One of the key philosophies we employ is the circumplex theory of affect, which allows us to assess the emotional state of students along with the relative relationships to those emotions. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) involves repeated sampling of student’s current behaviours and experiences in real time, in their natural environment. EMA aims to minimize recall bias, maximize ecological validity, and allow study of microprocesses that influence behaviour in real-world contexts.
Aggregating data from a number of essential sources, HiJo then uses AI and machine learning to combine this information and make it available, in an ‘easy to understand’ format via a secure portal.
Diagram: Circumplex theory of affect
The Problem
Childhood mental health conditions have reached epidemic proportions across the globe. In any given year 1 in 5 young people experience a mental health issue. More than half of all mental health conditions emerge before the age of 14. These statistics highlight that the primary and early high school years are extremely formative in the shaping of the future mental health in all people. If we can better identify potential issues during this time, we can provide more effective early intervention mechanisms.
Currently we do not know for certain which children, or how many, are at immediate risk. Furthermore, we do not have clear data on what influences; good or bad, a child’s mood, feelings and general wellbeing throughout the day.
HiJo’s primary objective is to be the leading data source that informs both the immediate and long-term understanding of this alarming issue, helping to drive charge.
The Solution
A holistic approach to the health and wellbeing of our young people, especially in schools, is required. At HiJo, we seek to achieve this on a number of levels.
HiJo is a solution for measuring the wellbeing of the students in the classroom. Creating a physical bridge between their wellbeing and the digital world.
By interacting directly with the students in a safe and secure manner, whilst collecting sensory data that may be affecting their mood and emotional engagement, we gain an end-to-end, real time understanding of the true challenges facing students, teachers, schools and policy makers.
The collection and collation of data around behavioural patterns, as well as the situational and environmental triggers that can act as precursors to the issues facing today’s students, is a powerful tool. This information can be used, both in the moment and long-term to better enrich the schooling experience for our children and reshape how we manage and prevent mental health issues in young people.
“A device such as HIJO that provides young people with the opportunity to label their emotions and feelings, and have that feedback reach the teachers will quite simply save lives”
School Trials & Results
HiJo has conducted a number of live school trials designed to inform and clarify the rate of adoption and interaction with our technology in the classroom. These trials uncovered some interesting results both from a high level and from individual students.
Trials conducted in Melbourne, Australia and California, USA
HIGH LEVEL RESULTS
INTERACTION
Over the one month period all students involved in the HiJo pilots interacted with the mood inputs more than once
TELLING
Half of all students interacted with the ‘anxious’ or ‘sad’ inputs more than once
INPUT TIMES
Children were very engaged with the mood inputs; mostly in the morning, just before lunch and mid-afternoon
PATTERNS
Patterns of engagement emerged with certain students repeatedly pressing the same mood input at certain times
TEACHER ASSISTANCE
Children who pressed the ‘relaxed’ and ‘happy’ buttons more often, were more likely to ask their teacher for assistance
TEMPERATURE
Temperature was significantly related to most of the mood buttons. However, temperature was unrelated to children pressing the ‘anxious’ button
LIGHT & AMBIENCE
Children pressed ‘teacher assist’ more often when the light was brighter. The light ambience score in pilot trials was 382 (with a standard deviation of 195), 300 lux is recommended for classrooms
MOOD
‘Happy’ and ‘relaxed’ inputs were pressed the most out of all mood inputs.
SPECIFIC CHILD RESULTS
Child ID12
Child ID12 pressed the ‘anxious’ button 8 times, but also reported feeling happy 13 times.
HiJo was able to advise that the ‘anxious’ inputs from Child ID12 were aligned with time of day, specifically aligned with lunch break.
Child ID11
Child ID11 pressed the ‘happy’ button 32 times, and the ‘bored’ button 24 times.
HiJo identified that Child ID11 enjoyed being at school but required greater challenges within the content delivered
Child ID15
Child ID15 did not use the mood input buttons much at all, but used the teacher assist button more than any other child in the pilot study.
HiJo was able to identify that Child ID15 was a happy and relaxed student. They had increased contact with the teacher given the ability to connect discreetly
“From my own high school experiences, especially transitioning into a new schooling environment as a young teen I felt many pressures to fit in. When I didn’t, I found myself unable to vocalise to teachers and my parents the negative emotions I was experiencing and the severity of them. I think what is important to understand is that young people face many pressures and often feel embarrassed and ashamed confronting mental health problems. I was lucky enough to be able to leave my first high school after one year and go to a school where I was able to find my own place.
HiJo would have been revolutionary for my highschool experience, both by taking the taboo away from discussions of mental health, as well as discreetly letting adult role models in my life know what I was experiencing and that I needed help. ”