Audio Analytics for Communication Behavior Modification

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Solution Overview

Problem

Individuals often lack awareness of their communication habits, such as using filler words, profanity, interrupting others, or speaking loudly, which can be difficult to recognize without feedback, and existing systems do not effectively provide behavior modification insights in real-time.

Innovation Solution

A system comprising a control system and interface that receives microphone data to detect acoustic events like rising inflections, conversational dominance, and speech rate, providing behavior modification feedback through haptic, audio, or visual means to help users improve their communication skills.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If real-time audio analysis is implemented to detect communication behaviors, then awareness of communication habits is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedetection accuracy of communication behaviorsVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements real-time feedback by analyzing audio signals during conversations and providing immediate notifications to users about detected behaviors such as filler words, profanity, interruptions, and dominance patterns. This feedback loop enables users to become aware of their communication habits and modify them in real-time, directly resolving the contradiction by achieving precise measurement while managing system complexity through targeted analysis.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary processing layer that analyzes audio signals and translates them into actionable insights. This intermediary system includes components for detecting acoustic events, analyzing speech patterns, and generating feedback notifications, which bridges the gap between raw audio data and user awareness without requiring direct complex processing at the user interface level.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Loss of information

If multiple acoustic event types are detected and analyzed, then communication behavior insight is improved, but processing time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecompleteness of communication analysisVSAvoidprocessing delay
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments the analysis of communication behaviors into distinct acoustic event types including filler words, profanity, interruptions, and dominance patterns. Each event type is detected and analyzed separately through dedicated processing channels, allowing the system to handle multiple analysis tasks concurrently without significant increases in overall processing time, thus maintaining both completeness and efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP3288035B1Personal audio analytics and behavior modification feedback
Publication Date: 2022.10.12 DOLBY LABORATORIES LICENSING CORP
  • EP3288035B1 patent drawingFigure 1A
  • EP3288035B1 patent drawingFigure 1B
  • EP3288035B1 patent drawingFigure 1C

AI summary

Some disclosed implementations include an interface system and a control system. The control system may be capable of receiving, via the interface system, microphone data. The control system may be capable of determining, based at least in part on the microphone data, instances of one or more acoustic events. The instances of one or more acoustic events may, in some examples, include conversational dynamics data. The control system may be capable of providing behavior modification feedback, via the interface system, corresponding with the instances of the one or more acoustic events.