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The NHK news often has a little human interest piece about new technology. This morning concerned technology for evaluating your mood. There is a web site that has you talk into the microphone for a few minutes, then gives you a reading of your emotions, along with some sort of recommendations. That one is interesting, but since it is your choice, not terribly intrusive.
The next one seems to me to be open for misuse. Apparently one company is producing a little spray of techno flowers -- a base with three metallic stalks and rounded blobs on the tops. The blobs glow, with different colors and different patterns. They actually change patterns and colors -- based on the emotional stresses in the voices around them. Basically, they respond to stress patterns and other indicators in the voices they hear. The intention is that you would use this to help keep track of your own emotional ups and downs, however, I wondered about the use of such a device by HR, negotiators, newspaper interviewers, and so forth. Put one of these beside the interview chair, and consciously or subconsciously I'll bet you start to learn to use the colors and patterns to interpret the person's responses.
Is using a technical gadget to measure and interpret stress patterns in your voice a violation of privacy? Do I need to warn visitors that I have techno flowers on the table beside them?
Raises interesting questions about what we considered legitimate measurements. We usually aren't upset to know that someone has spent time learning how to interpret voices through experience, but having an electronic gadget measure it somehow feels different.
The next one seems to me to be open for misuse. Apparently one company is producing a little spray of techno flowers -- a base with three metallic stalks and rounded blobs on the tops. The blobs glow, with different colors and different patterns. They actually change patterns and colors -- based on the emotional stresses in the voices around them. Basically, they respond to stress patterns and other indicators in the voices they hear. The intention is that you would use this to help keep track of your own emotional ups and downs, however, I wondered about the use of such a device by HR, negotiators, newspaper interviewers, and so forth. Put one of these beside the interview chair, and consciously or subconsciously I'll bet you start to learn to use the colors and patterns to interpret the person's responses.
Is using a technical gadget to measure and interpret stress patterns in your voice a violation of privacy? Do I need to warn visitors that I have techno flowers on the table beside them?
Raises interesting questions about what we considered legitimate measurements. We usually aren't upset to know that someone has spent time learning how to interpret voices through experience, but having an electronic gadget measure it somehow feels different.
