E-Gaia Progress and PST Agree to Jointly Develop Mental Health and Well-being Support Services for Municipalities Using Voice Biomarker Technology

E-Gaia Progress Co., Ltd. and PST Inc. have agreed to jointly develop new services for local governments and communities, combining E-Gaia's mental health solutions and auto-call services with PST's voice biomarker technology and healthcare voice analysis platform, 'VOISLOG®'. The two companies have already begun collaborating in the corporate mental health sector by integrating E-Gaia's 'WELLXiL' service with PST's voice analysis technology. This new agreement expands the scope of their partnership from corporate mental health to include municipal and community support, elderly monitoring, and preventive healthcare, aiming to improve well-being by creating a new social infrastructure based on voice analysis.

[Background] Against the backdrop of an aging population with a declining birthrate, an increase in elderly people living alone, the weakening of local communities, and a shortage of human resources in local governments and support organizations, the importance of systems for monitoring, understanding health conditions, and providing early support in municipalities is growing. Conventional monitoring and health checks have relied heavily on face-to-face confirmation, paper or web surveys, individual visits, and telephone checks, placing a burden on both residents and local governments. In particular, it is not easy to continuously grasp daily changes in physical and mental conditions that are difficult for individuals to notice themselves. E-Gaia Progress has been promoting service implementation in the mental health and well-being sector, including its corporate mental health solution 'WELLXiL' and communication support services for municipalities. PST provides the 'VOISLOG®' platform, which visualizes physical and mental states from voice, and is advancing R&D on voice biomarker technology aimed at estimating multiple health indicators such as stress, sleep, and cognitive function. By combining E-Gaia's auto-call service with PST's voice biomarker technology, the two companies aim to develop a new regional monitoring and preventive healthcare support service that is low-burden for residents and easy for local governments and support organizations to operate continuously.

[Overview of Collaboration] In this collaboration, the two companies will proceed with joint service development and verification, focusing on the following areas: 1. Voice Biomarker Integration: Considering mechanisms to naturally grasp changes in residents' physical and mental conditions by combining PST's voice analysis technology with regular automated calls and voice response systems. 2. Municipal Monitoring Model: Building a service model that grasps the condition of elderly and local residents through daily voice interactions and connects them to support from families, local organizations, municipalities, and professionals as needed. 3. Preventive Healthcare and Well-being Support: Considering mechanisms that lead to early awareness and behavioral change through self-care, local outreach, and professional support by visualizing conditions using voice. 4. Deepening Corporate Mental Health Collaboration: Further developing the existing WELLXiL x VOISLOG® partnership to strengthen corporate health management, employee condition monitoring, and support pathways by professionals.

[Future Outlook] The two companies will verify the usefulness, operational feasibility, resident acceptance, and coordination methods with support organizations through demonstrations in municipal and community areas. Progress on verification results and joint development will be announced sequentially based on coordination with related municipalities, community groups, and business partners. Through this collaboration, E-Gaia Progress and PST aim to improve well-being by implementing a new regional support model that utilizes voice as a daily and natural touchpoint to detect changes in each resident's condition early and connect them to necessary support.