"Gradually, with the effects of Parkinson's, my face began retreating to a passive, almost frozen disposition," Michael J Fox, Actor and Activist

Parkinson’s Disease is a progressive, neurodegenerative disease that impairs muscle movement.

An early symptom is Facial Masking or Hypomimia. Patients lose the ability to smile, laugh or look surprised. Their inability to express emotion severely impacts relationships, communication and quality of life.

“Studies show a connection between self-reported facial masking and negative social wellbeing, and between stigma and quality of life”

A daily 45-minute facial exercise routine can significantly improve symptoms, but only 3% of patients follow it. Not only is it tiring and frustrating, It’s tough to watch yourself in the mirror when your face no longer follows your heart.

We knew that if we could help people adopt the exercises, we could change the lives of patients and carers alike.

Worldwide, we spend 2.5 hours a day scrolling through our social feeds. What if we could convert down time to therapy time?

Scrolling Therapy is an innovative mobile application that uses facial recognition to browse the news feed. We identified patient’s most important facial therapy exercises-smiling, rising eyebrows, frowning-and converted them into commands for the newsfeed. Simply by moving their faces patients could like, play, scroll up and down and more.

The app provides real-time feedback, helping patients ensure they are performing the exercises correctly without having to confront their own struggles in the mirror; tackling both the practical and the painful emotional barriers to adopting the routine.

By seamlessly turning their scrolling habit into a life-changing routine, Scrolling Therapy is on a mission to improve the quality of life of over 8.5 million Parkinson’s patients around the world.

Using Google’s TensorFlow AI platform, Scrolling Therapy connects with the device's camera to capture patient’s expressions.

The facial recognition and AI interpret over 10,000 unique data points from 43 facial muscles, transforming gestures into social media controls.

The most important facial exercises translated are:

-Like = Smile

-Scroll down = surprised face

-Scroll up = disgusted face

-Play = sad face

-Swipe = angry face

The app was launched through a targeted campaign in Latin America, receiving official support from the American Parkinson Disease Association and Brazil’s Parkinson’s Association, but it’s available on the app stores to the 8.5 million+ Parkinson’s patients around the world.

We worked as a lean and agile team, following a rapid design and innovation sprint. We immersed ourselves in academic research, alongside stakeholder interviews among a network of health care professionals, from neurologists to physical therapists. With these insights, we mapped every stage and step of the patient’s journey, understanding the context, the jobs to be done, pain points and opportunities at each stage.

In the second phase, the design and UX teams worked hand in hand, starting with low fidelity screens that helped us test and validate the user experience, anticipating possible mistakes and challenges for the user.

We wanted the app to feel as easy and rewarding to use as possible. Every aspect was designed to maximize accessibility and ensure an inclusive experience for patients, while using photography and color to create a mood that is warm, hopeful and very human. Both the high contrast colorpalette and the use of fonts and language were designed to optimize readability for our audience. We created all icons, animations, photography and graphic elements to support the visual design, all optimized both performance and accessibility.

8.5 million people are affected by Parkinson’s disease. Up to 89% experience facial and speech impairments - a condition where patients can no longer express their emotions. Exercises can help maintain facial mobility, but just 3% of patients follow the recommended regime.

Scrolling Therapy is a revolutionary mobile platform created by Eurofarma that supports adherence by converting scrolling time to therapy time.

Using facial recognition, we enabled patients to control the newsfeed with their expressions, translating the most important facial exercises into social media actions and offering patients a transformational alternative to an exhausting routine.

Anvisa, FDA, and FTC regulate the promotion of health services/products. The promotion of restricted sale drugs is prohibited. CFM regulates conditions for the participation of physicians in communication work. In Brazil, actors playing the role of a doctor are not allowed. Testimonials must be real. Technical data must have proof.

Our primary target is the world’s 8.5M Parkinson’s patients. Facial Therapy is physically and emotionally exhausting for them, with the result that only 3% perform the exercises that help preserve facial mobility. Meanwhile worldwide, people spend 2.5 hours a day scrolling their social feeds.