Sip from the Firehose

I just could pass up this new item (probably the most covered techie item this past week). The "Jerk-O-Meter" cell or VOIP (voice over IP) phone software program being developed by MIT researchers. The software analyzes the speaking patterns of the cell phone user and rates the level of involvement in the conversation. Using speech patterns and voice tones, the software rates the level of engagement on a 100 percent scale. If the software detects that you are paying attention to other things while talking it can alert you to pay more attention to a conversation with a loved one, co-worker, boss, parent, etc.

The Jerk-O-Meter research project is taking place at the MIT Media Lab. The current software runs on the Sharp Zaurus VOIP phone. A paper is available titled, "Voices of Attraction", that describes the software. The paper was presented at the 11th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction in the Augmented Cognition track (AugCog), in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Tuesday, July 26, 2005.

In face to face conversations you can track the body language, the facial expressions, the tone of voice, and other aspects to assess the level of interaction. On the phone you can also track the speakers tone of voice, volume level, speed, background audio/noise, pauses, and a few other items to give additional feedback besides the words spoken. Imagine having additional help to assess the level of involvement of either participant. The listener could gain additional insights. The speaker could be alerted to pay more attention to what they are saying and the way they are saying it. The research group used speed dating sessions for one analysis study. A real time speech feedback version of the software is written in C++, and runs on the Sharp Zaurus PDA running the Linux operating system.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 16th, 2005 at 9:39 pm and is filed under Embedded, Programming, S/W Engineering. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.