I AM speaking to a man on the phone 鈥� but he鈥檚 not the only one listening. As I talk, software is analysing my voice, measuring the speed of my speech, and building a graph that shows how the conversation is going.
I鈥檓 talking to Josh Feast, CEO of a company called . His algorithms work away while people talk, highlighting awkward pauses, tense tones of voice and one-sided conversations. Next time you call your insurer, bank or any other call centre, a version of Cogito鈥檚 software called Dialog could be running in the background, helping the customer service agent deal with you. If you start to get upset or angry, the agent can see that and take action to soothe you. Cogito calls its service 鈥渄igital intuition鈥�. It is useful in call centres because it can give feedback on conversations in real time, says Feast. One day, a version of it could even be running on your smartphone, analysing every call you make and helping you spot if you are depressed, for example (see 鈥�A phone that listens鈥�).
As I speak to Feast, I can see the dashboard where our voices are plotted, something that would normally be visible only to a call centre agent. It shows that my voice is slightly deeper than his, and I have a greater range, but he is doing most of the talking. The dashboard changes before my eyes as he speaks, marking the waypoints of our conversation. A blue bar that measures how much each person is speaking fills up as I listen to Feast. The fact he is dominating a phone interview about his software is to be expected, but if a call centre agent saw that they were speaking as much as he is, they might want to ask more open-ended questions and bring the customer into the conversation. The software also measures the dynamic range of the caller鈥檚 voice, and the speed at which they speak. High dynamism, when a caller鈥檚 voice contains a lot of variation in pitch and emphasis, could mean they are excited or angry, for example. Low dynamism, a monotonous flat tone, might indicate disinterest or boredom.
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鈥淲e can now process complicated data with no detectable delay. The real-time nature opens up the ability to affect conversations as they are happening,鈥� says Feast.
Two American health insurers, Aetna and Humana, are already using Cogito鈥檚 voice analysis in their call centres. Dana Gresky of Humana in Louisville, Kentucky, says her company uses the software to help their staff recruit customers for clinical programmes that help manage conditions like obesity or asthma.
鈥淚t helps them match his or her tone, especially during the clinical interaction,鈥� Gresky says.
of the University of Glasgow, UK, says Cogito is part of a wave of new companies commercialising research on the analysis of the subconscious signals you give off that betray your state of mind.
Such social-signal analysis will be useful beyond call centres and meeting rooms, Vinciarelli says. Monitoring conversation in operating theatres or plane cockpits could help surgeons and pilots know when their colleagues are really paying attention to their instructions, potentially saving lives.
聯Surgeons and pilots could know when their colleagues are really paying attention聰
But such pervasive recording could be invasive, says Vinciarelli. 鈥淭his is recording your life to a very deep extent, and it鈥檚 mainly being done in professional settings. It鈥檚 not really ready for your private life.鈥�
A phone that listens
Cogito in Boston is about to release a smartphone-based version of its voice analysis software, called Companion. It runs the same analyses that the call centre version does (see main story), but can also factor in GPS traces, text messaging and readings from a phone鈥檚 accelerometer.
The idea is that warning signs of depression can show up in these signals. Cogito鈥檚 Peter Costello says social and physical withdrawal can be a sign of the condition. 鈥淚n a phone call, withdrawal could be non-fluid speech, lack of engagement,鈥� he says. People can then share their status with family and friends and, if they want, with their healthcare provider or insurance company to help tailor treatment.
Cogito was trialling Companion in Boston last year when the marathon was bombed. Data collected via the app showed that participants subsequently interacted less with its audio diary, perhaps because they had become more withdrawn.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淗ang on your every word鈥�
