MONTI

Client/Partner
Partners: Curtin enAble Institute

Timeline
2022 – Ongoing

Overview
In Western Australia and beyond, young people frequently encounter substantial barriers when seeking mental health assistance. Long waiting lists for professional services, societal stigma surrounding mental health issues, fears of personal disclosure and competing priorities such as school, work or daily responsibilities often delay or prevent timely intervention. Globally, availability and cost further exacerbate these obstacles, leaving many individuals without viable options. Existing digital intervention tools are either narrow in scope, not evidence-based or fail to sustain user engagement over time. This creates a critical gap for scalable, flexible and user-centred solutions that can provide immediate support without the need to formal referrals or appointments.

MONTI was developed to address these challenges. It is conversational therapeutic agent that uses rule-based artificial intelligence and the Method of Levels (MOL) therapy framework to ask curious, therapy-informed questions, helping users explore their problems from new perspectives, reduce stress and work toward problem resolution. The platform was designed to be highly flexible and accessible, allowing young people to use it without referral, at any time and place, on any internet-enabled device.

The Curtin Institute for Data Science was involved in the technical development, leveraging its expertise in machine learning, data analytics and software development. The Institute focused on rebuilding the user interface with modern JavaScript frameworks such as React and Next.js, integrating the existing Java code for response generation while ensuring client-side data storage for user privacy. This included creating a progressive web application (PWA) that functions as a standard website on browsers but can be installed on mobile devices for app-like access without app store requirements. Key updates addressed user requests for easier access via mobile, a modern chat format with speech bubbles, avatars, auto-scrolling, more colour, buttons instead of links, readily available crisis contact information (e.g., Lifeline) and the ability to resume or view historical conversations. The development also involved setting up a Nimbus instance and GitHub repository owned by the project lead for controlled access, with assumptions around separating backend code, client-side storage and online usage.

Currently in ongoing development, MONTI is evolving to meet emerging needs. The project has already garnered significant recognition, including winning the Curtinnovation Award in 2023 for its innovative approach to mental health technology and being named a finalist for the Incite Award in 2024.