MACH is a new software developed by M.I.T, that is supposed to helf social
anxious people to "perform" better in social interactions, like, for
example, job interviews. It recordes the amount of smiles, the tone and
levels of the voice, the words said, eye contact and so on, and also responds to your expressions. Therefore,
it can provide feedback that you are rather unlikely to get in a face to
face conversation with a real person. Certainly it can need a bit more developing, like making the voice sound more natural, but it's a good idea! Certainly "normally developed" people don't really need such a program, aside from evaluating their way of talking, but for those with low social interaction or for example Aspergers, it could be an engaging way to practice their skills without having to be afraid on the effects on another person.
"But MACH takes a more instructive approach. The idea sprung from a workshop held by the Asperger’s Association of New England, where Hoque and fellow researchers were approached by people seeking a technological solution to their social hardships. “Once I start talking I don’t know when to stop, and people lose interest, and I don’t know why,” one person told Hoque. People asked for a tool with which they could practice human interaction privately—insulated from the insecurities created in social situations.
The software was built over two years, using more than half a million lines of code. As a matter of convenience, Hoque’s team used their immediate surroundings to develop a proof of concept: they tested out the interaction-training system by conducting trial job interviews with ninety M.I.T. undergraduates seeking to improve their self-presentation in front of prospective employers. “In a technical university—where people are really, really technical—it’s possible that many people would have social difficulty,” Hoque explained. For on-campus career prep, “The best thing to do is interact with a human, but that’s limited.”
[...]
While the prototype runs locally on computers, Hoque, who recently completed his Ph.D. and is now at the University of Rochester, would like to make it widely available online, which he says would take between six months and a year for two or three engineers to develop. He’s now seeking funding, and he said there has been interest from organizations that support autism research, as well as from private companies.
Hoque, who has spent more time than anyone interacting with MACH, told me, “I have a love-hate relationship with it. There have been so many conversations at three A.M. when I’m writing code.” He doesn’t consider this to be genuine communication, though. “Human communication is so rich and the technology is not there yet,” he said. “I don’t even look at it as a person. It’s just software asking me questions. I know it’s a bunch of lines of code. I might as well just do this with a blank screen.”"
Betsy Morais: Machine that teaches people how to talk
