Israeli start up Beyond Verbal claims its Moodies app for iOS has gone one step beyond the traditional voice recognition technology by incorporating software that is able to detect not just the words, but also the emotional nuances of a voice to determine the feelings of a person.
The app has been designed to extract, decode, and measure a range of human emotions from users’ raw voice in real time.
Based on the so-called layered voice analysis it provides a running screen of results and allows users to share the resultant mood analysis through email or via social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
The technology can have potential application in the customer service industry across cultures and online voice communications, according to Beyond Verbal VP of marketing Dan Emodi, where it can help in call centers and other interactions, as well as enable people to learn how others might perceive them.
The company believes Moodies also has a potential scope in self evaluations, relationships, human resources, pitch feedback, language barriers and more.
The technology offered by the app is not new as the market is awash with a spate of sleek, sophisticated technologies which claim to determine a person’s emotional state through analysis of his or her voice.
Tel Aviv-based developer Nemesysco Ltd. offers the so-called "honesty maintenance" software aimed at human-resource executives, which claims to detect fibs by analyzing a job applicant’s voice during an interview.
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But various voice-analysis experts are already raising alarm over such technologies, which they say, could become a new breeding ground for privacy invasion, especially if it is rolled out in cheap smartphones.
Beyond Verbal has already raised $3.8m since its founding. Earlier this month, it secured $2.8m in funding led by the newly-launched Genesis Angels.
