PlaceboEffect – an app that offers a virtual placebo

Just when we’d thought we’d heard it all when it comes to health and wellness apps…

…it seems we haven’t! Researchers from PlaceboEffect.com are raising funds through crowdfunding site Indiegogo to develop an app that administers a virtual placebo. No pills, no doctors — just pictures. Yep, we’re as puzzled as you are.

So, here’s how it works:

• You begin the experience by choosing which lifestyle aspect you’d like to change — say, quitting smoking or decreasing stress
• You then schedule an alarm-like reminder to “take it” each day
• The app can be personalized by choosing exactly what you’ll be taking (it doesn’t need to be a picture of a pill)

According to the developers, the idea is to create a comfortable “happy place” to achieve the proper effect. With the right mindset, the group says, the act of routinely pressing buttons and watching your smartphone’s screen will be equivalent to physically swallowing a sugar pill.

At time of writing, the group had raised almost $10,000 of its $50,000 goal, with 18 days remaining to donate…madness if you ask us!

Below is a video so check it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J73TEnPj5w&feature=player_embedded