In a world where it seems like every person has something to say, we are becoming more and more disconnected from the people around us. This is especially true for the close relationships that can be hard to maintain when our technology distracts us from speaking with someone face-to-face.
But a new generation of social start-ups is utilizing AI analysis to detect emotions in text messages, instant messages, and even email in order to bring people back together. By using emotional analysis software, companies like Beyond Verbal hope to bridge the gap by keeping a person involved in conversations and even analyzing what would be the best time to connect.
How does it work?
(Image Source: Vocalise Health)
A single voice sample via a smartphone is reconded using an app or even a web-based tool. Once this is done, a cloud-based AI analytics engine provides feedback in real-time. This type of technology is going in the right direction of emotional and social intelligence. We can really learn a lot by using computer software to track our own human emotions and interactions with others. In addition, this software allows us to have an interactive conversation like never before but still under our control. The individual can decide when and how to develop a conversation. This could be the beginning of a significant new era.
Creating a more personal relationship by detecting emotional states in text messages, instant messages, and emails are being developed by companies like Beyond Verbal (for instant messaging), Egnyte (for email) and Cybersecurity Practice Lab (for SMS).
The “emotionally intelligent” approach of Beyond Verbal claims that by analyzing text, voice communications, and video communications, they can detect what emotions each party is feeling at any given moment so that we can customize our communication to better connect with people. The Beyond Verbal website describes their approach as “Using IBM Watson’s ability to understand language and emotion, we are able to determine the level of emotion in an email or instant message. By using an emotionally intelligent approach to communication, we can personalize your communication with real-time analysis of both your voice and emotions.”
Emotional Empathy – IBM and Beyond Verbal
The start-up, Cybersecurity Practice Lab (CP Lab), also offers a free service that can be used when sending an email. The Cybersecurity Practice Lab uses emotion detection software to make email attachments more meaningful because the reader can read the emotions expressed by the sender at any given moment.
Using emotion analysis software allows us to bridge the gap between the real world and the digital world, which is increasingly becoming a problem. Emotions are perhaps what makes us human, and to deny that or not address it is a mistake because we lose an essential part of who we are. We can always say what we feel or simply repeat those exact words, but by using this software, we can actually analyze our own feelings and emotions while simultaneously learning how to best communicate with others in a meaningful way.
(Imange Source: Verywell Mind)
This isn’t just for businesses trying to increase productivity either. It can also be used in romantic relationships or even during casual conversations. There are many different possibilities for this technology, and it will become more and more popular as time goes on. Just imagine if you could have a discussion with someone face-to-face or via webcam where you were both able to detect each other’s emotional states!
The idea of using emotion analysis software has the potential to connect people all over the world in new ways that we never thought were possible before. Companies are using emotion detection software with greater accuracy than ever before. However, it’s still pretty rudimentary stuff, and I’m sure in a few years, we’ll be seeing emotion detection software being installed on computers without us even knowing it.