Business Line ( 23 July , 2016 ) carried an interesting report re
mushrooming of " Rent-a-Friend " services in Japan, where you can
" rent " ( on hourly basis ) , a fake friend , a family member or a
companion for various occasions
One Nashimoto even " rents " himself out for
" conversation " to 30 / 40 clients a month ( 70 % women ), for $ 10
per hour . He has an online service .
All kinds of people ( young and old / rich and
not-so-rich ), engage him for reasons ranging from,
* lack of family
support / keeping company ( physically or online )
* social
isolation / detachment from society
* desire to
speak out freely without inhibitions
* advice on
dealing with bosses..........etc
Now , online space is overflowing with some genuine (
and some , otherwise ) , " Escort Services " in many countries (
including , in India ) , which are very expensive
And for every rich person in need of such an escort
service , there are a hundred , not-so-rich and needy persons , who just need
someone online , from time to time , to pour out their hearts !
I believe , thousands of educated / unemployed Indians
are well placed to render such " Listening " services to needy
persons all around the World , remotely , using Skype / FaceTime
Here is an outline of my suggestion , re how young /
educated / unemployed Indians can offer such service :
# VEHICLE
This strictly
" Online " service will have a platform called , www...COUCH...com ( supported by a Mobile App )
# USERS
There will be
two kinds of users who will register on this site , viz:
* " Talkers
" , who want to engage someone who will listen to them / sympathize with
them
* " Listeners
" , who will listen patiently / ask
occasional question / offer advice - sympathy - empathy
# REGISTRATION FORM
For both type of users , the Registration Form will
require to submit following details :
* Personal Details ( Name / DOB / Gender / Nationality /
Bank Account No / Photo / Short Video
etc )
* Family Details
( Who are members of immediate family ? )
* Contact Details ( Address / Mobile No / Email ID /
Skype - FaceTime ID / WatsApp..etc )
* Social Media Footprint ( Facebook / LinkedIn / Twitter : No of
Friends - Contacts - Connections - Followers )
* Cultural
Exposure ( Countries visited / lived-in , with stay-periods / Foreign
friends )
* Educational Details ( Degrees / Colleges ) .
Listeners having degree in Psychology will get ranked higher !
* Language Details (
Languages spoken / fluently - reasonably well )
* Experience Details ( Where worked / for how long )
. Retired / Worldly Wise , Listeners get ranked higher !
* Availability
Details ( Available from - to / GMT- Local time )
Based on the completeness of the Registration Form
Details , a software will rate and rank the Listeners
, which will
be visible to
the Talkers
There will be facility to update / edit the data
submitted
Upon registration , users will be assigned USER ID and
PASSWORD
In addition , Listener
will be assigned a unique COUCH / INTERVIEW-CABIN number
# SEARCHING DATABASE OF LISTENERS
Talkers will
be able to search the database of the registered Listeners
, except for their " Contact Details "
Talkers can , then select / shortlist , a few
listeners of their preference
# SERVICE CHARGE
Talkers will
pay $ 2 per hour to the portal , which will credit this amount to the Bank
Account of the concerned
Listener , after deducting 10 % as its own
commission
# PAYMENT MECHANISM
Using online
payment gateway , Talkers will deposit a
minimum of $ 20 , on the portal as PRE-PAID amount
As Talker continues using the service , credit
balance will get displayed ( in $ and
in " Hours " terms )
There will be
facility for online ( or through Mobile ) re-charging of the account
# PROCESS
A Listener can login anytime and occupy his own
virtual COUCH / CABIN ( " I am now available
for listening " )
As soon as he
does , a GREEN light will shine on the CABIN
, showing the online availability of the concerned
Listener .
This green light will tell the Talkers : " Welcome
! I am ready to listen "
The light
will turn RED , as soon as a Talker walks into Listener's CABIN ( " I am engaged right now " )
Any time a Talker logs in , he will find if any Listeners ( that he had previously shortlisted ) are
available online
If he finds
one , he simply CLICKS on the CABIN icon and enters that VIRTUAL cabin !
Simultaneously , both the Talker and
the Listener , turn on their Skype ( on
Mobile or Tablet ) to start the talk
Remember , Skype ID of neither
the Talker , nor the Listener , is ever visible to each other !
All
conversation / transaction , can ONLY take place through www...COUCH...com ( no bypassing ! )
The entire
conversation will get recorded ( Video + Audio ) and can be downloaded by the Talker ( but not by
the Listener ) , if he so desires
Portal will be
obliged to make this recording available to a Court of Law , in case of any
litigation
Portal will
carry a WARNING that it reserves the right to remove any Talker or a Listener
, if it finds that its
service is
being misused / abused ( will need defining , in detail )
# REPUTATION SYSTEM
At the end of
each " talk / conversation " , Talker will
be obliged to " Rate
" the concerned Listener
on a 5 point scale ( Excellent > Horrible )
.
Cumulative / Average " Rating " will be prominently
displayed for
guidance of all Talkers .
Of course , a Listener can see his own rating as soon as he logs in
At some future
date , it should be possible ( through appropriate software ) , to introduce
following variations in
pricing of the
service ( ie ; Hourly
Rates ) :
* Surge Pricing
( depending upon the DEMAND of any given
Listener ) ie: No of Talkers waiting for a given
Listener
at a given point of time
* Reputation Pricing
, based on points accumulated by a given Listener
from all past ratings
# USAGE HISTORY
For each user
( Listener or Talker
) , there will be a Usage History page of all the past transactions / talks ;
as
also Credit
Balance ( for the Talker ) and the Earnings
( for the Listener )
# PRIVACY
The portal
will NOT reveal any info / data ( including
Audio-Video recording ) of any user to anyone else.
However ,
portal will reserve the rights to subject those Audio recordings ( but not
Video recordings ) to
an Artificial Intelligence ( AI )
software , which can , over a course of time , come up with a SOFTWARE ROBOT
that can take over the role of the HUMAN
listeners ! If you have any doubts , ask
Ray Kurzweil
!
When that
happens , this portal may morph into a PPO ( Psychology Process
Outsourcing ) !
The portal
will also reserve the rights to use the Audio recordings for offering
Voice-to-Voice language
translation
mobile app for the benefit of world-travelers
# PROMOTING THE SERVICE
To an extent
, the portal may affect the jobs of local Psychologists / Psycho-Analysts who
offer low level
consulting in
any country. They will be in danger of being " Bangalored " ! So , it
is bound to face resistance
from those vested / threatened interests !
But foreign Hospitals
/ Educational Institutions / NGOs / Medical Colleges , etc could be targeted
for promoting
# BUSINESS MODEL
Business
Model will be in the nature of " Sharing
Economy " , where those owning / possessing " Idle / Spare /
Under-utilized " assets / resources , will offer the same to those
in need / when in need , for a price
Eg:
Millions of
private car-owners use their cars for ( may be ) two hours per day . Uber
aggregates this spare
capacity and
makes it available to travelers who do not own ( or wish to own ) their own
cars
Both parties
benefit . Economy also benefits by fuller utilization of the spare/surplus
capacities of millions of
assets
All in all , I think this is a great opportunity for
some Indian Start Up to seize
For an depth idea ( Page Write-ups for web site / User Interfaces
) , look up :
( http://hcpreports.blogspot.com/2016/02/online-jobs-fair.html
)
Carpe Diem !
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25 July 2016
=================================
I firmly believe : If you can think up of something , rest assured that , a thousand other people has also thought of the same thing , independently ( may be , even before you thought of it ! )
Following news which appeared in Economic Times ( 23 Aug 2017 ) is a proof :
=================================
I firmly believe : If you can think up of something , rest assured that , a thousand other people has also thought of the same thing , independently ( may be , even before you thought of it ! )
Following news which appeared in Economic Times ( 23 Aug 2017 ) is a proof :
=================================
A good mentor can be a great
thing to have, but a hard thing to find. Now LinkedIn is attempting to pair
those looking for advice from a mentor with professionals willing to share it through
a new mentoring feature. It started rolling out in a few select locations this week, with
plans for it to go nationwide soon.
For now, all of the available mentors have been hand-selected by
LinkedIn (although it will be available for everyone eventually), and they can
set perimeters about that people they’re willing to mentor and on what topics.
For instance, a mentor might
say they’re open to helping students that graduated from the same college they
did or those that are connected within a few degrees of others in their
professional network on the site.
Mentees also have the opportunity to filter what they’re looking
for in a mentor, and when there’s a match, the two will be connected on the
site so they can message each other. It’s a Tinder-like concept, in that you
won’t be able to chat with each other unless you get matched up first.
You can
also end a conversation whenever you’d like, so if you decide the fit
isn’t perfect during your first conversation, neither party is under any
obligation to continue talking.
=================================
24 Aug 2017
===============================================
Added on 09 Oct 2023 :
Mental health. Disruptors who heed the cry for help.. Bus Line .. 08 Oct 2023
Digital platforms offer to bridge the gap in mental wellness services with a promise of convenience and anonymity
The convenience and anonymity offered by such online counselling platforms makes them more attractive to individuals who may otherwise shy away from seeking mental healthcare owing to the stigma attached. Amaha, MindPeers, Lissun, Wyssa and YourDost are among a host of startups in India that are trying to bridge the gap in mental wellness services
Industry experts forsee a steady increase in demand for such services, given the rising incidence of anxiety-related disorders, depression and work related stress
" United We Care " says its AI powered virtual assistant, Stella, can decipher over 40 different emotions and communicate in 29 regional languages to provide personalized support and guidance to those struggling with mental health issues
Stella can help people with assessments to understand their state of mind, and tasks such as finding a therapist, setting goals, and tracking their progress. She can also provide support and resources for specific mental health conditions.
Stella can detect mental health issues with 80 % accuracy " says Ritu Mehrortra , CEO and Founder of United We Care