Towards an artificial therapy assistant

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingBook chapterResearchpeer-review

The measurement of (excessive) stress is still a challenging endeavor. Most tools rely on either introspection or expert opinion and are, therefore, often less reliable or a burden on the patient. An objective method could relieve these problems and, consequently, assist diagnostics. Speech was considered an excellent candidate for an objective, unobtrusive measure of emotion. True stress was successfully induced, using two storytelling sessions performed by 25 patients suffering from a stress disorder. When reading either a happy or a sad story, different stress levels were reported using the Subjective Unit of Distress (SUD). A linear regression model consisting of the high-frequency energy, pitch, and zero crossings of the speech signal was able to explain 70% of the variance in the subjectively reported stress. The results demonstrate the feasibility of an objective measurement of stress in speech. As such, the foundation for an Artificial Therapeutic Agent is laid, capable of assisting therapists through an objective measurement of experienced stress.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationHEALTHINF 2011 - Proceedings of the International Conference on Health Informatics
Number of pages7
Publication date2011
Pages357-363
ISBN (Print)9789898425348
Publication statusPublished - 2011
SeriesHEALTHINF 2011 - Proceedings of the International Conference on Health Informatics

    Research areas

  • Agent, Diagnosis, Model, Psychiatry, Speech, Stress

ID: 209746197