INSIGHTS / Blog

SETsquared Surrey member MoveMe unveils its new AI-driven streaming recommendation service, captivating the 56% of movie lovers who give up the search when unable to find a good watch (SWNS Digital).

It’s the age-old tale of spending more time searching for a film than you do actually watching it. With an influx of streaming services available at our fingertips and thousands of films masked by the never-ending ‘watch list’, it’s easy to get caught up in the recommendation cycle. But now, Moveme has developed a new solution that taps into our emotions to find the perfect film.

Through funding from Innovate UK, the SETsquared Surrey company worked closely with the leading neuroscientists Dr Kathrin Cohen Kadosh and Dr Philip Dean at the Brain and Behaviour Lab to explore the psychology behind film consumption. Explaining the study’s motive and relevance, Dr Dean says, “By measuring brain activity as people watch movies, we begin to understand the neural signatures of emotional processing. This raw emotional data can then feed an algorithm that will be used to automatically predict how a movie will make someone feel.”

Users of MoveMe search the catalogue with emotive words or emojis rather than traditional keywords and phrases. The AI-driven algorithm then returns results identified to take viewers on that emotional journey, reducing search time and enhancing watch time. Recommendations can be filtered based on ratings, release date, what can be watched for free, or what can be watched with any paid streaming subscriptions a user has.

Simply by removing the lengthy process that plagues film streaming, users can feel the psychological benefits of escapism in a time where it’s never been more relevant. The cost-of-living crisis, housing crisis and ongoing global stresses are already showing their strain on the emotional health of the population.

Brett Garcia, Clinical Specialist and Psychotherapist, praised the emotion-led approach, saying, “Moveme is an excellent psychological concept, which is pioneering for its time”.

Ben Polkinghorne, Founder, MoveMe adds, “Movies are one of the most powerful mood-altering technologies in existence. We wanted to harness the power of entertainment and escapism to help people transform their moods, with the belief that changing your mood changes everything.”

And with plans to license its patent-pending IP to steaming services, Moveme hopes to keep the service free to consumers, allowing them to “transform moods at the push of a button.”

Try the free service now