Ideation Detection

The technology

Our Role and Its Limits

People use Okaya for a wide variety of reasons—tracking readiness before missions, understanding recovery patterns, or simply checking in with themselves during demanding careers. For some, these moments of reflection may surface difficult thoughts or feelings.

We want to make sure that our platform handles these conversations appropriately: responding with care, being honest about our role as a well-being tool rather than a clinical intervention, and being considerate of our users' wellbeing. When these critical moments arise, the stakes are significant.

Platform Purpose

Okaya is a readiness assessment platform—not a diagnostic tool or therapeutic intervention.

We help mission-critical professionals understand their cognitive and emotional states, but we recognize that well-being exists on a spectrum. Sometimes, the patterns we detect require human expertise and support that technology cannot replace.

This understanding shapes everything about our approach: we aim to identify when someone may need additional support and connect them with that support as seamlessly as possible, while respecting both their privacy and autonomy.

Identification

Our model operates at the conclusion of each check-in to identify potential instances of ideation. This analysis runs in real-time, evaluating both patterns and contextual indicators from the session.

We constantly test our model against a corpus of situations. This strategy was developed in consultation with mental health professionals who specialize in crisis intervention.

Risk Categorization

To ensure proportionate responses, we categorize potential flags into three levels:
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🔴 High Risk Direct expressions of intent or planning regarding self-harm or harm to others. These trigger immediate intervention.
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🟠 Medium Risk Indirect expressions that suggest significant distress or passive ideation. These prompt supportive resources with appropriate urgency.
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🟢 Low Risk Expressions that warrant attention and follow-up but indicate manageable distress levels.
This tiered approach ensures our response matches the severity of the expressed concern.

Communication

When our system identifies potential ideation, the user is immediately presented with a dedicated resource screen. During this moment, the user cannot access their check-in results—this ensures their full attention is directed toward available support options rather than assessment metrics. The resource screen includes:

Crisis hotline information, including 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) and emergency services

Clickable contact buttons on mobile devices to facilitate immediate connection

Organization-specific resources when deployed with departments that maintain their own peer support programs

We've designed this intervention to reduce friction during what may be a vulnerable moment. Every tap we eliminate between recognition and connection matters.

Our Approach

Disclosure and Privacy

This is perhaps our most carefully considered policy area. We work with organizations that have legitimate duty-of-care responsibilities; commanders need to know if someone isn't fit for a mission, fire chiefs need to understand wellness trends in their departments.
But we also work with individuals who need to trust that a moment of vulnerability won't become a career liability.
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Our Default: Privacy First

Okaya's default approach prioritizes user privacy. We do not automatically disclose to an organization when a specific member triggers an ideation event.

This is intentional. The research is clear: people are more likely to seek help and express genuine struggles when they trust that doing so won't have unintended consequences.

Ideation