Chiswick Father and Son Team Develops Mindfulness Device

Screen free technology aims to improve children's mental health

John and Liam Murphy

John and Liam Murphy are a father and son team from Chiswick who have developed a new device which aims to improve the mental health of children.

They are launching Stix Mindfulness which is the first screen-free, fully-immersive device for 5 to 12 year olds, It acts as their own personal coach and makes mindfulness fun and engaging.

Stix was created in response to the spiralling increase in poor mental health amongst children and the new start-up's own personal story.

24-year-old Liam, who witnessed mental health issues in the family home, set out to design a product to help children learn wellbeing techniques at a young age as part of his product design degree at Brighton University. The idea took hold and he teamed up with his father, John, in 2020 to turn the innovation into a business.

Stix guides children through a variety of therapeutic activities, that aim to combine sensory and motor skills training, with app-based gamification to encourage continued practice, enabling them to take control of their mental wellbeing.

Comprising of two interactive remotes, one held in each hand, the device talks and guides the child through mindful activities in balance, focus and breathing. Stix monitors their movements and gives visual, haptic and auditory feedback to keep them focused and engaged. The four activities currently available are Body Scan, Balance, Stix Focus and Stix Sounds, with 8 more in development. The Stix companion app encourages them to continue practicing activities, where they review their progress and collect rewards to create their Stix buddy, a ‘cute’ monster character, that grows as they do, boosting their motivation and skills.

Already the trials and pilots with families, schools and charities have had remarkable results according to the team behind the product, from a child sleeping better, and subsiding anxiety attacks to a child with Autism who has never been able to breath through her nose until now.

They have been working closely with child behaviour experts and developers, and beta testing with families, schools and charities.

Daisy trying out the Stix Mindfulness device with her father

Liam said, “We have become much more aware of the wide-reaching benefits of mindfulness for children, but it’s hard enough encouraging an adult, let alone a child, to keep practising these techniques on their own and not get bored. We knew for this to work the product had to be physical for it to be grounding, give live feedbacks to support concentration, and incorporate rewards and gamification to help build up early practice that would eventually turn into a routine. It is a fully-immersive experience. Seeing the reactions and feedback from children and parents has been amazing. We hope Stix will become the Wii and Duolingo of mindfulness!”

Lily, aged 7, said, “Stix helps me when I’ve had a stressful day of school or I need to calm down at the end of the day. I love using them before I go to sleep as it relaxes me. They are really amazing!”

Ruth Carson, has been testing Stix with her daughter aged 5, who has an anxiety related condition and has used other tools in the past. She said, “I like the independence that Stix offers my daughter. She uses Stix as and when she needs to, and she’s not reliant on an adult to help her. The breath work helps calm herself if she’s feeling worried, Stix balance helps her refocus or distract her from her anxiety. It’s also great just to refocus her in general! If she’s struggling to concentrate on homework for example, she takes a few minutes out to refocus. Body scanning and breathing are great techniques for her to learn which she can use when the Stix aren’t at hand.”

More parents and schools are turning to mindfulness to help young children with their mental health as studies show that not only improves overall children's mental well-being but can reduce anxiety, depression, and stress, and also builds resilience, boosts test scores, and improves family relationships.

Stix has launched Kickstarter campaign to raise at least £10,000 to begin manufacturing, so it’s available in time for Christmas.

Parents, schools and charities can buy Stix for a huge discount with super early bird and early bird offers which also puts them on the waiting list for product trials this summer. The Super Early Bird offer allows the product to be bought for £99 compared to the RRP of £159. To find out more visit the company's website.

April 16, 2022