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deepwell gaming therapy

Are games the future of mental health treatment?

  • min read
    • In Kaspersky's Bring on the Future series, we meet people and businesses worldwide who are changing things for the better. One of the biggest challenges for mental health treatment is reaching more people who need it. Some don't realize they're mentally unwell. Others can't access therapy because of costs or waiting lists. Many don't like the idea of discussing their problems with a stranger. DeepWell DTx aims to change that by bringing mental health therapy to the masses – especially hard-to-reach patients – through gaming. Co-founders Ryan Douglas and Mike Wilson speak about why games are a great way to treat mental health issues – if you get the formula right. 1. Why did you decide to start DeepWell now? We found that mental health came up constantly in our respective careers – Mike in gaming and Ryan in creating medical devices and therapies. We saw many people were missing the resources or help to treat disorders like anxiety and depression. We often talked about what we could do to address this unmet need, then the deepening mental health crisis alongside the Covid-19 pandemic pushed us to start DeepWell. 2. What's DeepWell's philosophy? We put games and game developers first. There is no treatment without player engagement, so therapy must be embedded in a fun and engaging game. 3. How has your team of 40 experts across gaming, science and mental health helped your success? Our diverse team is made up of professionals at the top of their fields. Neurosurgeons, lawyers, creative strategists and others all work in service of the game developer. Without the game's fun, there is no therapy. 4. What can players expect might change after playing your games? Our games aim to help players improve their physical and emotional functioning. After playing consistently, you should notice greater resilience and capability to handle the stress and anxiety of daily life. 5. How has gaming supported your mental health? Which games do you recommend for therapy? At the moment we're focused on virtual reality (VR,) using games like Pistol Whip and motivational fitness apps like Supernatural for leisure and exercise. These games have especially helped during the pandemic for getting off the couch and quelling anxiety with movement. We've also found immersive fantasy games like Lorne Lanning's Oddworld and American McGee's Alice, role-playing games (RPGs) like Wizard101 and world-builders like Minecraft therapeutic for us and our families. Any game that takes you out of your head has potential benefits. 6. Who are your customers? Are businesses investing in these games, such as the healthcare industry, or any business hoping to improve employee wellbeing? We're reaching out directly to folks with mental health issues. We also partner with game developers, publishers and platforms to create new games or repurpose games that are already therapeutic. We hope our games will make mental health treatment accessible to a broader audience. 7. Serious games have evolved as a genre in recent decades, especially in academia and healthcare. Do you align with it? We are not serious games. We rely on the power of play and engagement that good games provide. While we see the value of other approaches, this is what makes us different. 8. How will your FDA games certification project benefit the industry and gamers? Being able to make claims and develop games with therapeutic intent, and to have players understand the therapeutic benefit of engaging, will change game development and the audience games can reach. 9. Can you tell us about games you plan to launch? The first game we're working on focuses on addressing stress, anxiety and symptoms of depression on a VR platform. More to come closer to launch. 10. How will you keep your products secure and safe for users? We closely follow the FDA and HIPAA guidelines and requirements for data management in prescription games. 11. What will success look like for DeepWell? Widespread recognition of the power of game developers to develop Immersive Medicine and being able to produce many therapeutic options for a range of cultures and mental health conditions.

Scaling up a business in a pandemic? Here’s how to start.

  • min read
    • For many businesses, COVID-19 has thrown all the puzzle pieces into the air. Some are closing their doors for good. But while GDP has fallen in many countries and unemployment is rising, other businesses are expanding rapidly, like those in healthcare, food delivery and digital services. Others still have had to offer services online for the first time. Scaling up a business has never been easy. You've heard of start-ups, and if all goes well, start-ups become scale-ups – defined by the OECD as any company with 10 or more employees that's grown at least 20 percent in the past three years. If you're on that road already or considering it, there are reasons to think carefully and seek the best possible advice. South African venture capitalists and scale-up experts 10X Entrepreneur put any business's chance of succeeding on the path to scale at just six percent. And yet, the opportunities for businesses to scale up are more instant today than they've ever been, thanks to easier access to ever-increasing connectivity, a global market for employees and consumers and cloud-based tools. New cloud-enabled ways of running your IT side of things, like Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS,) are making it much easier to grow your business as and when you need to. Your cybersecurity is just one thing you need to consider as you scale your business. Should you even scale up? The most common mistake when scaling up could be not how you do it but choosing to scale at all. In their 2020 book Unscaled: How AI and a new generation of upstarts are creating the economy of the future, venture capitalist Hemant Taneja and tech writer Kevin Maney say new technologies are turning the old rule 'bigger is better' on its head. The impending climate emergency also places the importance of keeping a check on emissions while a business grows. If you know you need to scale, then there's the matter of when. Palo Alto   Software's free entrepreneurship advice resource BPlans lays out five signs that say your business is ready to scale. What do the experts say about how to scale? Chief among scaling up expert consultants is Verne Harnish, founder of the Young Entrepreneurs' Organization (YEO) and author of Scaling up: How a few companies make it...and why the rest don't. In the complex land of scale-ups where business leaders must constantly learn new things, Harnish's advice is attractive. It's easy to follow and based on observing hundreds of real companies that have succeeded, and more importantly, those that failed. Harnish's advice might surprise when you're envisaging a big and bold business future, because it's full of caution. He advises, for example, don't go too fast, use focus to prevent overwhelm and avoid saying 'yes' to everything customers want. Wagepoint's Shrad Rao has pulled together advice from household-name scale-up success stories. Several successful businesses – such as Google, Zappos and The Container Store – have taken to heart the value that employees should drive the company's vision and direction. Rao also points to Steve Jobs' view that far too many leaders of growing businesses are afraid to ask for help. Vincent Mifsud, CEO of ScribbleLive, says it's vital to make sure you're gathering and following the data when it comes to making decisions on where and how to grow. How is COVID-19 affecting businesses scaling up? UK Predictive analytics software providers Bellrock have talked about their experience as a tech business scaling up during the pandemic. They believe that despite the new distance between their remote-working staff, they've seen their team spirit galvanize and colleagues become closer. It's meant they've been even more effective, delivering in "shorter, more compressed bursts than we've seen before." It makes sense that Bellrock has seen signs of greater work satisfaction in their employees, manifesting in closer, more effective teams. Recent research commissioned by Kaspersky found 74 percent of small- to medium-sized business employees want to see a rethink of pre-COVID-19 ways of working, mostly because working from home is giving them more time with family and saving them money. Audit and accounting services firm BDO Australia points out that businesses can use the incentives, loans or accounting leeway some governments offer because of COVID-19 to grow their business or explore new areas. Business change advisory firm McKinsey Accelerate points to the way many businesses successful in adopting a 'pivot' in response to the pandemic. A pivot is a radical and rapid change in how they do business. McKinsey Accelerate also suggests some leadership attitudes that will help bring employees along for the ride. If your company's time to scale has come, the pandemic needn't hold you back. There have never been more digital resources available to you that can help, such as cloud-based software and scalable infrastructure. But scaling up always needs careful consideration. Expect your role as a leader to change, and put your people at the center of your plans for growth.
intellectual property small business

Protect your intellectual property, no matter the size of your business

  • min read
    • This article is for information only. It is not legal advice. Intellectual property (IP) is the lifeblood of any organization. For smaller organizations, it's even more important. Careful handling of your company's trademarks, patents and trade secrets can catapult you to global recognition. Protecting and developing best-in-class technologies could establish you as a market leader, attracting important clients. Innovation is only half the equation of success. The other side is protecting your intangible assets, whether it's inventions in-the-making or proprietary information that makes you competitive. These steps will help you translate IP protection into business advantage. 1.  Prioritize protecting your IP When you're starting out in business, it may seem unlikely someone would steal or copy your IP. But it happens more often than you might think. In a 2019 poll by business and financial news network CNBC, one in five US companies said they'd had IP stolen in the past year. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates counterfeit and pirated goods made up 3.3 percent of global trade in 2019, up from 2.5 percent in 2013. Start-ups and small businesses are no less affected and may feel the consequences of theft more. It's crucial to start protecting your IP as soon as possible, for example, registering your trademark, applying for a patent or implementing technical and organizational measures to safeguard your secrets. If ever you need to defend or assert your rights as an IP owner, these steps will set you on the correct course of action. You'll be able to defend your company against unfair competition better. And there are further benefits. A patent means only you can use the invention for 20 years, giving your business ample time to take advantage of it. Patents convey innovative spirit not as mere statements but as concrete assets. They can open doors to investments and joint ventures. 2.  Get the IP professionals in Legal specialists are vital in managing your IP. Integrated IP teams, for example, are critical in their companies, giving valuable insight into the innovation landscape. Their deep knowledge about the company's assets means they can decrease legal risk by adopting preventative measures during a company's research and development. In patent infringement disputes, a good understanding of a patent's history and language, and the legal system, will strengthen your defense. IP experts' tasks include giving information to marketing and development, researching prior use and drafting applications. They'll also communicate with IP agencies and examine licensing agreements. All these activities add value to your IP and reduce risk of theft. If you can't afford an internal IP specialist, outsource applications to an attorney. There are always costs. While it may be hard to find the money, keep in mind intangible assets are long-term investments. They advance, transform and sustain your business. 3.  Think big and act fast Priority counts. Being first means exclusive rights, creating a competitive advantage that's hard to put a price on. Patenting enriches your understanding of your technology area, helping you imagine how a technology will work in the future. It may point you in certain directions to identify features of your invention. At Kaspersky, we tell our product developers not to limit themselves to today's technology parameters. Something that seems impossible now may be possible later. Thinking about how industries change gives inventors insight into wider trends, which could lead to whole families of lucrative patents. 4.  Remember cybersecurity Cybercriminals are getting more interested in stealing and selling IP. Embed cybersecurity in your company's IP activities. Patentable inventions under development, early-stage mark designs and supporting documentation, among other things, are all at risk of theft. Robust and comprehensive cybersecurity will help protect your IP. There are tailored solutions for smaller businesses with limited resources, so you can focus on growth while having peace of mind about your security. 5. Fight patent trolls Patent trolls, or non-practicing entities (NPEs,) are people with patents for inventions they don't use. Often they aim to enforce their patent by sending 'cease and desist' letters to many companies or filing lawsuits against practicing companies. Targets sometimes settle the dispute with a large payout or buying licenses to the allegedly infringed patents. If you find yourself dealing with an NPE, stay firm. NPE cases can drain company resources. For start-ups, the impact could be hard to overcome. If you settle, your NPE problem may get bigger. Buying high-priced licenses or offering settlements can impede innovation because those resources could be used to grow the business instead. If you gain a reputation for never settling, it tells NPEs to steer clear. Staying firm against NPEs can save you a lot in the long run. Payouts can be millions of dollars. Defending cases successfully means relieving that financial burden on the company. It also helps your industry because it's likely NPEs are targeting others too. As a business leader, no matter where you are in your journey from zero to hero, make sure you protect your IP from legal and cyber risks. It will make you more aware of industry trends and pave your way toward opportunities that will sustain and strengthen your work.
tech entrepreneur attributes

Five signs you’ll make it as a tech entrepreneur

  • min read
    • Feeling like you're back to the same-old, same-old, frustrated when your ideas at work go unrealized, for reasons you can't control? What if you were making all the decisions? Do you have what it takes to lead your own tech start-up? Despite that in recent years, we've seen more women on conference programs and panels, headline-grabbers like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg eclipse a broader picture of what kinds of people lead groundbreaking tech success. When women succeed in tech entrepreneurship, they have often done so against odds not faced by their male counterparts. Their insights on what attributes and attitudes will lead you to start-up success are rooted in experience of forging their own path. 1. Uncertainty doesn't faze you Starting a tech business is riddled with uncertainty. You need to be able to make a plan when the goalposts, and the ground beneath your feet, are moving. And you'll need to be able to adapt to change fast. You'll never have all the answers, but you'll still be able to see ways to move forward. https://youtu.be/OSE6Ja_vup8 Caption: Elsa Nicol, co-founder and CEO of Wattson Elements, says there's no need to disappear until you have all the facts – you'll have time to get them.] 2. You're willing to develop, improve and even throw out your ideas Tech entrepreneurs don't decide their 'baby' is the right solution and doggedly cling to it. Stories like that of Elizabeth Holmes – inventor of the blood-test biochip that never existed – show just how destructive hanging onto a dud idea can be. Great tech entrepreneurs want to solve the problem more than they want to be right about how it's best solved. They're more interested in being useful than in being popular. https://youtu.be/6s2nzg2wxUw 3. You can be persuasive, but you're more substance than style When you run a start-up, you need to win people over to your idea, time and again. From securing funding to motivating your team, you need to be tireless in inspiring people to give you their best. And you're not just selling your product, you're selling yourself. Contrary to popular belief, leaders don't need star quality – experience and skills predict success better than charisma. But you do need to make people believe in what you can do. https://youtu.be/dN2JIp6u4r0 4. You're happy to do whatever needs doing https://youtu.be/ofz3iwX_x-o Early in the life of your start-up, you'll need to turn your hand to all kinds of tasks that won't feel like what you were born to do. If you're the kind of person who tends to think, 'that's not my job,' or you've developed advanced skills in avoiding tasks you don't like, tech entrepreneurship may not be for you. 5. You can cope with imperfection, and you're willing to put your ideas to the test Gone are the days when entrepreneurs jealously guarded their ideas up until the moment of a giant, glitzy launch. Perfect is the enemy of good. And in tech, it's usually much easier to get a prototype or beta version out to gauge the response than it is with other kinds of products. As anyone who's done user research will tell you, the biggest shortcomings of products often aren't what the team thinks they are. Testing with real people isn't a luxury; it saves time and money. Leading your own start-up almost always means working long hours and testing your skills to their limit. Few succeed, but if you have these five qualities, you have a great chance of being among those who do. Get more advice on making your tech start-up succeed from Conversations with female tech entrepreneurs, by Kaspersky's Tomorrow Unlocked.
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About Secure Futures

Secure Futures magazine is your go-to business guide for opinions, trends and insight into the world of technology and cybersecurity. We help your business to bring on the future. Brought to you by Kaspersky, the global cybersecurity experts.

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