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Stress detector can hear it in your voice

9 June 2010

A VOICE-BASED stress detector could identify which job candidates will perform better under pressure. So claims the detector’s developer Bo Yin at National Information and Communications Technology Australia, in Sydney.

Normally we have full control over our vocal muscles and change their position to create different intonations, says Yin. “But when stressed, we lose control of the position of the speech muscles,” and our speech becomes more monotone, he says.

Yin tested his stress detector in a call centre to identify which interviewees were more relaxed during recruitment tests. The number of new staff that left after three months subsequently…

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