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A new UK project is harnessing immersive technology and artificial intelligence to provide frontline staff with personalised support for workplace stress, anxiety, and trauma.
Cineon, a specialist in AI, immersive technology and eye-tracking, has partnered with Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Bath to develop and test ELE-Stress, an adaptive digital platform designed to help first responders, NHS workers and police staff manage the mental health impact of their roles.
Built on Cineon’s Empathic Learning Engine (ELE), the system delivers self-led, clinically backed experiences that respond to users’ real-time psychological and emotional data. The tool allows staff to access support at their own pace, in private, and in a format that fits around demanding work schedules. It aims to reduce the stigma associated with seeking help, while also providing organisations with anonymised insight into workforce stress patterns.
The initiative is funded through Innovate UK’s Mindset Extended Reality (XR) for Digital Mental Health Programme, which supports innovative solutions using immersive technologies to improve mental health.
Toby de Burgh, CEO of Cineon, said the project builds on earlier Innovate UK funding that addressed patient anxiety in healthcare environments.
“With ELE-Stress, we are now addressing absenteeism caused by severe workplace stress – an issue that cost the UK economy £32.7bn in lost productivity in 2023 alone. The system is about meeting people where they are, with support that is evidence-led, human-focused and accessible. This funding also allows us to make our core technology, ELE, available to other HealthTech developers to power the next generation of stress-adaptive interventions.”
Toby de Burgh, CEO, Cineon.
For Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, the project is an opportunity to test new approaches to staff wellbeing. Dr Nick Peres, Director of Digital Innovation and Transformation, said: “Staff wellbeing is a major priority. This collaboration will help us explore new, evidence-based ways to provide that support, particularly for those returning to work after experiencing stress.”
The University of Bath is leading the academic evaluation. Dr Rachel Arnold, Reader in the Department for Health, said: “This project is a great example of user-centred innovation. By embedding service user insight into the design of virtual environments, we can create therapeutic scenarios that reflect the real challenges people face in their working lives and provide personalised support to users.”
According to Cineon, ELE-Stress has been developed to:
- Deliver preventative support before issues escalate.
- Provide real-time feedback through behavioural and physiological data.
- Offer immersive, clinical interventions tailored to specific roles.
- Reduce stigma by supporting users outside traditional clinical environments.
- Improve staff retention and reduce stress-related absences and burnout.
As well as supporting emergency services and healthcare staff directly, the technology underpinning ELE-Stress will be made available as an API, enabling other developers to build XR-based digital therapies tailored to user cognition and stress response.
With NHS and police staff wellbeing under growing pressure, the partners believe ELE-Stress offers a scalable, timely tool to help protect those working in the UK’s most challenging frontline roles.
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