Mental illness is a huge burden on those afflicted with it, as well as their caregivers and represents a major cost to society as a whole. The invention herein is concerned with methods and apparatus to improve the well-being of persons afflicted with mental illness, as well as to provide early and better diagnosis. It is felt that in some cases such diagnosis can lead to a potential for eliminating the worst effects of the illness altogether, by allowing intervention before a first psychotic episode occurs. The invention uses sensors, primarily 2D or 3D cameras and voice recognition to observe persons in many instances during ordinary activity such as playing video games, chatting on the internet or other such computer based activity.
