What if there was a way to tell with total certainty if a date is going well?
That’s what a new app is hoping to figure out. Researchers at the University of Cincinnati are developing an AI program that uses physiological data from wearable technology to gauge whether a date is into you or not.
The app is based on a phenomenon called physiological synchrony, where certain biological mechanisms sync up when talking with one another. Essentially, the wearable technology tracks a person’s respiration, heart rate and perspiration, and uses that data to confirm if there’s “a spark.”
The team of researchers are looking for other ways to use the wearable technology and AI programming. One way is using the data to determine how well one is presenting themselves on a date.
“The computer could tell if you’re a bore,” explained doctoral student and lead study author Iman Chatterjee. “A modified version of our system could measure the level of interest a person is taking in the conversation, how compatible the two of you are and how engaged the other person is in the conversation.”
The app can also be used to help people understand their own communication styles and how they affect others. Beyond romantic relationships, the app could potentially be used in a variety of contexts to help people interact with others more effectively.
“You could probably use our system to determine which people in an organization work better together in a group and which are naturally antagonistic,” Chatterjee said.
The app is still in development, and looks completely ridiculous right now, but experiments so far have produced 75 percent accuracy.
