Elly Yates-Roberts |
Canada-based Digital Technology Supercluster has joined forces with lululemon, Wysdom.AI, Queen’s University, Microsoft and Mitacs to launch Wellbeing.ai, a project focused on developing a new approach for personalised health and well-being.
The $20 million project will develop a digital well-being platform to help people understand their physical health and mental fitness through interactions with virtual agents.
“As we move out of the pandemic, it’s more important than ever to put the well-being of Canadians front and centre,” said Judith Law, CEO of Anxiety Canada. “It’s incredibly encouraging to see such a significant investment and collaboration dedicated to providing Canadians with the resources and support they need to effectively manage their increasing stress and anxiety.”
Activewear brand lululemon will provide the data, tools and resources to reach the project’s goal of providing 10 million people with access to well-being tools by 2025.
“We are excited to participate in this innovative partnership with the federal government, the Supercluster, and our other project partners to develop tools and resources that can democratise well-being and make it available to more people,” said Calvin McDonald, CEO of lululemon. “Our Futures Innovation team will work side-by-side with our partners to develop and refine how companies like ours can best serve our guests and the communities we serve through dynamic and empathetic virtual wellbeing tools.”
Microsoft’s role in the project is to develop a responsible artificial intelligence ethical framework that considers equity, diversity and inclusion. The project will include recommendations from Microsoft’s its ethics advisors to ensure gender and diversity benefits are realised by Wellbeing.ai users.