EXperiMental: Wearable Technology and EXplainable AI for Mental Health and Inclusivity in Schools

Jul 1, 2025 · 1 min read
projects

Funding: SNF, grant 230189 · July 2025 – December 2028

Mental health is a vital part of our overall well-being, especially during early adolescence, a time of rapid growth and emotional development. The initiative explores how AI, smartphones, and smartwatches can promote mental well-being in schools through collaboration among psychology, sports science, computer science, and ethics experts across Romania, Croatia, and Switzerland.

The research involves two major studies: (1) observing daily routines using digital tools and mental health check-ins, and (2) applying AI methods to identify patterns signaling mood or mental health changes. The aim is creating personalized, understandable suggestions for young people, teachers, and school psychologists.

Objectives

  • Understand how physical activity, sleep, and phone use relate to adolescent mental health
  • Design youth-friendly, privacy-protective monitoring methods via mobile devices
  • Develop personalised suggestions, such as encouraging a walk or improving sleep habits
  • Create ethically sound guidelines for technology use supporting adolescent mental well-being in schools
Current Project SNF
Silvia Santini
Authors
Silvia Santini
Professor
Silvia Santini is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Informatics of USI since September 2016, where she co-leads the People-Centered Computing Lab together with Prof. Marc Langheinrich. From July 2014 until August 2016 she held an Associate Professor position at TU Dresden, where she led the Embedded Systems Lab. From October 2011 until July 2014 she was an Assistant Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of TU Darmstadt, Germany, where she led the Wireless Sensor Networks Lab. From 2009 until 2011 she was a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Friedemann Mattern’s Distributed Systems Group at ETH Zurich, and from November 2010 until February 2011 she joined Leonidas Guibas’s research group at Stanford University as a visiting scholar. Silvia completed her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Friedemann Mattern at ETH Zurich in 2009, and graduated in Telecommunication Engineering (with honors) from the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, in May 2004.