Our SERENE project aims to alleviate negative emotions through comprehensive and accessible solutions. We have developed two main products: the Pokefish app and the SERENE Beverage. Pokefish is a stress management app that detects and manages stress, while the SERENE beverage incorporates a probiotic-infused edible film attached to beverage sealing films. These products raise awareness about emotional well-being and offer convenient methods to enhance mental health.
▲ Figure 1: Logo of Pokefish. With the stress-detecting app, users can easily know more about their stress levels and emotional state.
Pokefish is a user-friendly app developed to help individuals detect and manage their stress levels. By integrating various stress-detection techniques, Pokefish empowers users to understand their emotional state better and provides tailored recommendations to alleviate stress.
Detection: Utilizing Finger Photoplethysmography (FPG) to assess Heart Rate Variability (HRV), the app can gauge stress levels.
▲ Figure 2: Easy detection. You only need to put your finger on the phone's flashlight and camera.
Management: The app includes engaging activities such as guided breathing exercises, meditation & music, and work and rest planning.
Breathing practice
Recommended by Professor Hsin-Chin Chen, we integrated abdominal breathing into our app. It helps to increase oxygen levels in the blood, lowers blood pressure and heart rate, and reduces muscle tension. Utilizing this technique, the app can potentially help relieve stress, pain, and anxiety.
Meditation & music
Conducting meditation and listening to soothing music can rapidly hasten the process of stabilizing heart rate variability, thus indirectly reducing anxiety. We implement the functionalities of a music player and a meditation tutorial video recommendation for app users.
Work and rest planning
Keeping a daily routine can relieve stress. We developed a work and rest planning system which allows users to set their wake-up and bedtime, with the app sending notifications when it’s time to sleep or wake up. To support maintaining a routine, the app also tracks and displays the user's sleep times and durations throughout the week, making it easy for users to review and monitor their sleep patterns.
Additional features
Pokefish engages users through a therapeutic mini-game with daily check-ins and integrates with our flagship product — SERENE Beverages, by allowing users to earn points by scanning QR codes on beverage seals. We wish to boost loyalty and make mental health management more interesting.
Our stress management app, Pokefish, is currently in the demo phase and is available only on Android. The demo version showcases the app's core concept, allowing users to explore its potential in detecting and managing stress. Although not fully developed, we have successfully implemented foundational features such as a primary user interface, preliminary stress detection capabilities, and tips to manage stress.
Cross-Platform Compatibility: To ensure Pokefish is accessible to a broader audience, one of our primary goals is to expand its compatibility to iOS. This will allow users across different platforms to benefit from our stress management solutions, increasing the app's reach and impact.
Improved Stress Indices: We plan to enhance our stress index methods by incorporating the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), known for its simplicity, cultural adaptability, and use in both clinical and research settings. Additionally, we will integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to analyze PSS results alongside HRV data, offering more precise stress measurements.
Personalization: Future iterations of Pokefish will include advanced algorithms that tailor stress management strategies to individual users based on their specific data and preferences, providing personalized and practical recommendations.
User Experience Improvements: We are dedicated to enhancing the app's design and user interface, making it more engaging, intuitive, and visually appealing. Our goal is to create an experience that is effective in managing stress and enjoyable for users.
▲ Figure 3: Illustration of a SERENE Beverage, consisting of SERENE EcN encapsulated by edible film to create a convenient solution to enhance the mood.
In today's fast-paced world, people lead busy lives, so it's vital to create solutions that are accessible and fit seamlessly into daily routines. In Taiwan, beverages are a regular part of life. Rather than introducing something new, we chose to offer a simple and convenient stress-relief method by enhancing an existing habit: beverage consumption. With the average Taiwanese person consuming 6.7 cups of beverages per week (Health Promotion Administration, 2018), this became the perfect platform for our SERENE Beverages.
The SERENE Beverage incorporates a probiotic-infused edible film that delivers genetically modified E. coli Nissle 1917 (SERENE EcN) to enhance serotonin synthesis in the brain. This innovative design offers a convenient way to boost serotonin levels, potentially alleviating negative emotions.
Mood-Enhancing Probiotics: The beverage contains our genetically modified E.coli Nissle 1917 (SERENE EcN) to produce 5-HTP, a precursor to serotonin.
Easy Integration with Existing Products: The probiotic-infused edible film will be integrated with standard daily beverage sealing machines, ensuring widespread applicability.
The final product of the SERENE Beverage project is designed for beverage shops. We aim to provide a practical, convenient, and scalable solution that can be easily integrated into their operations. The key innovation lies in our probiotic-infused edible film, which will be attached underneath standard beverage sealing films. Here's how the system works:
Rolls of Sealing Film: We will sell sealing film rolls with the probiotic-infused edible film already attached underneath. These rolls are produced using our custom-designed hardware machine and can be seamlessly integrated into standard beverage-sealing machines.
Integration into Beverage Shops:
Beverage shops can offer customers two options: a standard beverage or a SERENE beverage. If the customer chooses the SERENE beverage option, the shop will use our specially designed sealing film to seal the cup.
The sealing film, infused with probiotics, will add an extra health benefit to the drink, making it more than just a regular beverage. The probiotics will provide the potential for mood enhancement.
Operational Setup:
Beverage shops will use two separate sealing machines: one with regular sealing film and one with our SERENE Beverage sealing film.
This setup allows for flexibility and ease of implementation, as shops won't need to make significant changes to their operations, making it more likely they will adopt this system.
Our hardware system plays a crucial role in creating these specialized rolls of sealing film. As illustrated in the image below (Figure 4), the machine combines a conveyor system with dispensers and a heating mechanism to apply the probiotic-infused edible film onto the sealing film.
Beverage Sealing Film Roll: This roll contains the standard beverage sealing film, which is unrolled and fed into the conveyor system.
Conveyor System: The conveyor transports the sealing film through various process stages. It ensures precise movement and positioning of the film as it progresses through the machine.
Film-Making Machine: This machine is central to the process. It applies the probiotic-infused edible film onto the beverage sealing film. The machine contains:
Probiotic Powder Dispenser: A precise dispenser system evenly applies the probiotic powder onto designated sealing film areas.
Edible Film Applicator: This section applies the edible film over the probiotic powder, encapsulating it securely. The film is then pressed onto the sealing film to ensure it adheres well.
Heating Elements: This ensures that the edible film is appropriately bonded to the sealing film, setting the probiotic powder in place.
Motor and Rollers: These components control the unwinding and rewinding of the sealing film, ensuring a continuous and smooth operation.
Rewound Sealing Film Roll: After the edible film is applied and dried, the sealing film is rewound onto another roll, ready to be used in beverage sealing machines.
▲ Figure 4: Schematic diagram of our hardware design.
The SERENE Beverage project is an innovative initiative to create a probiotic-infused edible film that can be attached to beverage-sealing films. This edible film is designed to contain genetically modified E. coli Nissle 1917 (EcN), which enhances the production of 5-HTP, a precursor to serotonin. We aim to offer an accessible and novel way to support emotional well-being through a commonly consumed product—beverages.
As of now, we are still in the experimental phase:
We are conducting ongoing experiments to determine the effectiveness of our 5-HTP production in other strains of E. coli.
Our work has focused on the foundational aspects of genetic modification, but we recognize significant challenges to overcome before we achieve a fully functional product.
Despite the challenges, we have developed a prototype edible film and are exploring its potential uses while continuing to refine our approach.
Transition to Lactic Acid Bacteria: Given the complexities and current limitations with E. coli strains, we will investigate the potential of switching to lactic acid bacteria (LAB), which offer several advantages:
Established Probiotic Benefits: Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are well-established as beneficial probiotics, widely used in the food and health industries (Dempsey E. et al., 2022). Additionally, some LAB strains have been shown to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation (Beltrán-Velasco, A.I. et al., 2024), factors that impact the viability of BH4, which is crucial for 5-HTP production. In the future, we will investigate whether LAB can effectively utilize this system, potentially offering a superior alternative to EcN.
Consumer Safety and Acceptance: LABs are generally recognized as natural and safe and are commonly found in fermented foods (Sha J. et al., 2021), which may lead to greater consumer acceptance and easier regulatory approval.
Improved Functionality: LAB naturally thrives in the gastrointestinal tract, which could enhance the efficiency of 5-HTP production and delivery within the human body.
Possible Applications: While our primary focus is on integrating the edible film into beverage sealing films, the future could see broader applications:
Functional Foods: The technology could be adapted for other consumables, such as yogurt, smoothies, or health bars, providing a versatile platform for mood-enhancing foods.
Other Applications: For future iterations of our application of SERENE EcN, we will look into the possibilities of integrating it with paper straws or tea bags to expand the accessibility of our probiotics even further.
As part of our future work, we aim to partner with beverage franchises to offer the SERENE Beverage option. By marketing the health benefits and easing the implementation, we hope the SERENE Beverage can gain wide acceptance in the market.
We will also conduct consumer trials to refine the taste and texture of the film to ensure that it integrates well with various beverage types. Additionally, safety assessments and certifications will be sought to ensure compliance with food safety standards.
Through Pokefish, our stress-management app, and the SERENE Beverage, we aim to offer a comprehensive solution for mental and emotional well-being. Combining digital tools with tangible products addresses stress and negative emotions on multiple levels.
The Pokefish app increases accessibility by offering stress management through a user-friendly platform, while the SERENE beverage provides a practical, probiotic-infused option to enhance mood and well-being. Together, these products deliver a balanced, integrated approach that promotes emotional care in everyday life.
As we continue to develop and refine these solutions, our goal is to positively impact mental wellness worldwide.