Duovio is a practice app that allows users to rehearse challenging conversations with virtual characters. It does not replace psychotherapy, psychological counseling, or professional diagnosis. Its aim is to provide a practical environment in which people can repeatedly try out new communication strategies and become more aware of their habitual responses under pressure.
The user selects a relationship context, such as a partner, parent, sibling, colleague, or authority figure, and then practices a specific situation. They can practice setting a boundary, accepting rejection, listening without becoming defensive, handling criticism, stopping escalation, clearing up a misunderstanding, or apologizing and making amends.
What the app monitors
The app does not assess a person’s personality based on a single sentence. It monitors specific communication behaviors within a given situation.
For example, it may identify:
- excessive explaining and self-justification,
- backing away from one’s own boundary,
- a need for immediate agreement,
- counterattacks, irony, or moralizing,
- freezing or withdrawing from the conversation,
- taking responsibility for the other person’s emotions,
- manipulative, controlling, or demeaning responses,
- the ability to stay on topic,
- healthy and proportionate assertiveness.
Based on repeated practice sessions, the app may build a working profile of areas the user finds challenging. The results are treated as working hypotheses for practice, not as a diagnosis or definitive personality assessment.
How the app can complement therapeutic work
The app can be used as a support tool between sessions. In a safe environment, clients can repeatedly practice a specific communication skill they have discussed with their therapist and then bring their experience of the practice into therapy.
This may include, for example:
- preparing for a difficult conversation,
- practicing a brief and clear boundary,
- recognizing the moment when the client becomes defensive,
- working with feelings of guilt when declining a request,
- accepting another person’s boundary or disagreement,
- turning a reproach into a specific request,
- slowing down communication during emotional overwhelm,
- practicing an apology without self-abasement or defensive caveats.
The app can provide clients with opportunities for repetition that may not always be possible to offer to the same extent during a therapy session. However, it does not replace the therapeutic relationship, professional interpretation, or individualized work on the deeper causes of behavior.
How the app provides feedback
The feedback relates to a specific response and its potential effect within the conversation. The app does not draw conclusions about a person’s personality from a single response or use labels such as “you are manipulative.”
Instead, it identifies specific communication behaviors, highlights their potential impact, and acknowledges the skills successfully demonstrated in the response. For example, it may say:
“This response applied indirect pressure by inducing guilt.”
“Your boundary is clear, but lengthy self-justification weakens its impact.”
“The response invalidates the other person’s experience. Try expressing your perspective without denying their experience.”
“You succeeded in acknowledging the other person’s emotion while standing by your own decision.”
The aim is not to determine what kind of person someone “is,” but to help them recognize what they did in a specific situation, what effect it may have had, and what alternative response they could try next time.
Diagnostic and ethical boundaries
Duovio is not a diagnostic tool. The app does not diagnose personality disorders, assess the user’s mental health, or draw clinical conclusions about the people described by the user.
Psychology-informed terms such as questioning another person’s reality, emotional coercion, devaluation, or controlling behavior are used solely for the internal classification of communication behaviors. They serve as working descriptions of behavior, not as labels for a person’s identity or diagnosis.
The app is also not intended to address crisis situations, domestic violence, imminent danger, or serious mental health difficulties. In such cases, professional and, where appropriate, crisis support is always important.
Collaboration with professionals
We want to develop the app in dialogue with psychologists, psychotherapists, and other experts in interpersonal communication.
We are particularly interested in feedback on:
- formulating safe, nonjudgmental feedback,
- ensuring realistic progression in practice scenarios,
- distinguishing between a healthy boundary, defensiveness, withdrawal, and counterattack,
- addressing manipulative and controlling behaviors by users,
- setting limits for automated evaluation,
- using the app as a complement between therapy sessions.
If you are interested in providing expert feedback on the app, participating in testing, or suggesting another area for practice, we would be glad to hear from you at support@duovio.eu.