Not gonna lie, this whole "Feel - Emotions on Demand" thing sounds like a slightly dystopian scifi concept. Maybe like a Black Mirror -style parody of how even emotions can be manufactured nowadays.

I get that reaction and see how it could sound a bit Black Mirror ish. It's literally just art and curated audiovisual experiences designed to help people feel and process their emotions though.

We’re already living in a scifi dystopia where our emotions are constantly being manipulated by social media, algorithms, ads, etc. Feel is an attempt to offer an intentional alternative. It's not about manufacturing emotions. It's about moving through them more consciously with greater awareness and emotional intelligence.

I appreciate the comparison and feedback though. I welcome it all.

I believe Soylent Green has some prior art.

Not a psychologist, but I have doubts that this is a more conscious and aware way of going through emotions. If you're so stressed about something that it makes you cry, this is a signal that there is something wrong that you need to change or takle/face in some way. If you're inducing cry once a week to relieve your stress, you're instead trying to silence the signal telling that something might be wrong. Like taking a painkiller after breaking a bone, but without taking care of the fracture that is causing the pain.

Of course, but a lot of therapy in North America nowadays becomes needed not because the patient can change fundamentals variables in their life (job, family situation), but as a coping mechanism for these variables being out of wack with no discernible path to change.

Its far from ideal and indeed borderline dystopian, but to borrow your metaphor, it's the difference between a fracture, and a fracture with some painkillers available.

Perhaps some revolutioning would be a better cure then?

Thanks for your feedback. I'm not a psychologist either but we have top psychologists and neuroscientists on the team and the project is grounded in leading psychological and scientific research. cryonceaweek.com was actually inspired by a Japanese research project that found crying can relieve stress for up to a week.

I would argue that releasing your emotions isn't comparable to taking a painkiller. A painkiller numbs the problem. Letting yourself cry and feel and release your emotions brings them to the surface. I've actually received a lot of responses from people who have told me the site has helped them confront emotional issues they have been avoiding or unable to face.

The app goes a lot deeper than you're describing by helping you understand what you're feeling and identify/label your emotions, receive insights on why you're feeling something by identifying triggers and patterns, and then helping you shift your mood when you need to. It could maybe be considered a painkiller in the moment, but it's also a vitamin that improves your well-being and emotional intelligence over time.

There was actually a new study that came out recently called The Big Joy Project that found that just a few minutes per day of intentional emotional shifts can improve your well-being in a week.

It's super important to me that the project so grounded in sound research so this is a big focus of ours. Appreciate you sharing your perspective and feedback.

Thanks for your reply. I indeed missed tha part that helps identifying emotions and their root cause, that's a crucial functionality that significantly changes the picture.

Gonna update the site soon to make that more clear

That is… nothing new? At least for me, music does the same. It can make me cry, make me happy or make me angry. I can spin up a CD and get in each mood I desire. Or, and that’s the great thing about it, get out of it.

I love that you just said spin up a CD

Wait till you learn about art, where other humans use audio visual mediums to evoke feelings. It's going to blow your mind.

Sounds like the "Penfield Mood Organ"[0] from Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Characters "dial" emotions, from basic to extremely specific (e.g. "481. Awareness of the manifold possibilities open [...] in the future", or "888 [...] The desire to watch TV, no matter what's on it")

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penfield_mood_organ

It could be considered similar to this. In a way the Penfield Mood Organ could be seen as something that gives people emotional autonomy and optimization, not too different than choosing the right music for the moment to shift your mood.

Of course with something like this there are also concerns about emotional conformity and losing authenticity. And questions about what is considered a real authentic emotional experience vs a manufactured one.

Some might consider what we're building "manufactured" emotional experiences. But are emotions elicited from music and movies manufactured? Just because something is happening on a screen or coming through speakers doesn't make it any less meaningful. Our brains don't know the difference and the feeling is real.

Media influences our emotions probably more than anything right now and for the most part is currently being fed to us by algorithms designed to prey on our most vulnerable feelings. What we're building gives you the ability to regain control over your emotions and inner world. It's more about using art, audiovisual, media, storytelling, and guided practices to move you through something real. It's about emotional awareness, exploration, and transformation more than artificially induced control. Of course like any tech it's up to people how they choose to use it. But we are trying to design it in a way that prioritizes the emotional benefit and personal growth of each user.

It's an interesting philosophical conversation that could go much deeper. I appreciate the feedback and reflection.

Would be a shame if someone picked those up and surreptitiously inserted them in feeds of their social network to manipulate the users' emotions- I mean, "maximize engagement"...