WE HAVE A
LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR TELEPHONES: WE CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT THEM, BUT THEY
ANNOY US TO NO END—ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY INTERRUPT US AT THE MOST INOPPORTUNE
TIMES.
To address this dilemma, recent PhD recipient Stefan Marti, working with
Chris Schmandt in the Lab’s Speech Interface group, has developed the Cellular
Squirrel—an autonomous interactive intermediary to manage telephone
interactions.
“Humans are experts in
social interactions; devices are not,” says Marti. “But the squirrel can send
out readable social cues, such as gaze and gesture, to alert in a subtle and
non-annoying way—to give human-like social intelligence to our telephone
agents.”
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Sensing devices enable the squirrel to detect and
analyze conversation. Then, aided by caller ID, it can evaluate the importance
of an incoming call to determine whether it is appropriate to interrupt.
Alternatively, it can suggest leaving a voice instant message, or can just let
the call go to voice mail.
“This is a
real improvement over placing my phone on vibrate,” says Schmandt, “because it
gives both you and the other people in the room a chance to interact socially—to
negotiate—with the communication device.”
In the end, it’s all about improved social interaction and politeness.
Miss Manners would be pleased.
To learn
more, visit http://www.cellularsquirrel.com/
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