Cigna's global 360 Wellbeing Survey indicates that 87% of the world is stressed. On top of that, The World Health Organisation believes that chronic stress is a leading cause of 41 million preventable deaths per year - due to the physical effects stress has on the body. The problem is that the signs of physical stress are often invisible until they become chronic, making it difficult for people to act on something they can't see. As a "partner in wellness" that prides itself in promoting proactive wellcare, Cigna challenged itself to make the invisible, unmissable... Working closely with doctors, technologists, and 3D artists, we developed Stress Portraits - The World's First Stress Visualisation Experience. The experience transforms an individual's biometric data into a stunning real-time portrait of stress affecting their body, at that very moment.

Over a nine-month journey, we created technology that visualizes biometric ‘stress’ data as unforgettable, real-time 3D motion portraits. The key challenge was creating the tech. First, we identified three strings of biometric data to interpret stress in the body accurately. We then developed a striking motion art style inspired by ever-changing natural elements. Finally, we developed bespoke software, driven by 3D engines and enabled by a custom-built render farm, with dozens of pieces of custom hardware fitting into a shoebox-sized, plug-and-play kit. Each individual’s stress readings dictate the colour formations, turbulence and live visual effects, with each portrait consisting of 20 million uniquely settling particles in 36,000 live-rendered frames per second. So far, the tech has toured four continents — helping thousands of people around the world visualise their stress for the very first time. We created supporting PSA-style B2B and B2C digital campaigns using the stress visualisations, featuring interactive film content tailored to both audiences in each market, an online stress test with digital stress portraits, and behind the scenes film content to amplify the story and medical credibility of our technology. At all touch points, participants are offered doctor-approved stress care advice tailored to their stress levels, together with Cigna-formulated tools to help them take control.