Sounds Good! #34: MedRhythms, Chime Therapy, SoundWheel, SPOKE, TRIPP, UCL
Tracking developments at the intersection of music, health and technology
Hello!
Welcome to issue #34 of Sounds Good! — your regular roundup on happenings at the intersection of music, health and technology.
Thank you to everyone who shared Sounds Good! #33: Music Healthtech - An Overview, and welcome to new subscribers who joined after reading. It’s prompted some interesting further conversation which I’ll be exploring in future emails.
For now, onto this issue’s updates:
Brian Harris, co-founder and CEO of MedRhythms, has co-authoured a chapter in a new book, '“Music Therapy and Music-Based Interventions in Neurology”. The chapter is called “Therapeutic Technology for Music-Based Interventions” and is an excellent overview of ‘music based-interventions’ (MBIs) across the spectrum between wellness products and prescription digital therapeutics - including Calm, Headspace, Spiritune, MedRhythms, Vera, Lucid and SingFit. The article flags that “research on implementation on of MBI can help pave the way to effective use in real-world settings”, and notes the friction between the need for rigorous medical trials and the rollout of MBI products.
Mindy Peterson’s excellent podcast Enhance Life with Music has a fascinating interview with Dr. David Greenberg, a neuroscientist and psychologist who believes that in the next decades “humanity will witness a fundamental shift in the way the world uses sound and music – from a primary form of entertainment to a deeply therapeutic tool.” He is also the founder of Chime Therapy and talks about how his platform is delivering music therapy services globally.
Kristian Humaidan of SoundWheel was in conversation to Kira Vibe Jesperson (from the Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University) as part of a series of talks held by the Danish Sound Cluster. Humaidan’s background as a recording artist and meditation teacher has led him to develop the beautifully designed SoundWheel app, which aims to elevate wellbeing through short audio sessions.
SPOKE, the UK-based AI music therapy app, won the ‘Audio Experience’ category at the SXSW Innovation Awards — great recognition for a music healthtech company to win in this category.
Staying with SXSW news, VR meditation app TRIPP unveiled its new sound bath experience at The Future of Wellness event in collaboration with Meta.
Researchers at the University College of London (UCL) have created a new music album based on the tremors of people with Parkinson’s. There’s a 5 minute documentary on this site dedicated to the project — well worth a watch to hear the reactions from the participants.
The University of Nottingham is representing the UK in the international study MIDDEL (Music Interventions for Dementia and Depression for Elderly Care). The program will run in partnership with 16 care homes operated by Runwood, and will explore formal music therapy approaches as well as choir singing.
Cheers,
Rob