Couples counseling – Coming to a wrist near you

May 25, 2017
QuHarrison Terry -

When X and Y don’t get along, sometimes they need Z to intervene. That’s one simplified explanation of couple’s therapy—when a couple can’t come to an understanding together, they utilize a third party to help uncover and mediate the problem.

Apparently, a human isn’t the only one for the job now.

Wearables, a new tool for the couple’s counselor

A team of researchers at USC are running a study to uncover the biometric signals that lead up to a conflict between couples. By outfitting couples with special wearable sensors and smartphones to collect data, they can gain insight into what lies beneath the surface during the conflict.

It’s interesting to see them attack a huge and age-old problem in a new way, especially since no one likes to see domestic disputes get out of hand. We can all agree that couples don’t just wake up one day and hate each other, it’s usually a culmination of events – a snowball effect.

By tracking body temperature, heart activity, and sweat – three physiological indicators that signal changes in mood, affect, and emotion – Wearable Counselors are looking to melt that snowball before it starts gaining speed.

They can line this data up against conversations to match internal cues with external reactions, thus learning if someone’s blood actually boils before they get angry.  

They haven’t gone out of their way to induce arguments since that would be unethical, but they have been able to record a lot of data because what couple doesn’t have troubles now and then?

So far, their machine-learning algorithm has been able to capture episodes of conflict with 86% accuracy.

How is this different from a real therapist/counselor?

Even though we’ve been groomed since Kindergarten to “use our words” to solve problems, it’s undeniable that even words can’t help the situation sometimes.

While a therapist or a counselor can get to the bottom of a problem, perhaps dehumanizing a problem and describing it as nothing more than an increase in heart rate can be an effective way to resolve issues.

The famous therapist scene in Mr. and Mrs. Smith shows how powerful nonverbal communicators are when couples are clearly at arm’s length. Even though their words say they “just need a checkup, to poke around the engine”, you can imagine what their biometrics are signaling.

Emotions are complex and can’t always be put into words. The Wearable Counselor is a means of describing the indescribable in emotional health.

Ultimately, developing their research into an application or a wearables feature would warn the users of a brewing conflict real-time and help them resolve it before it explodes. 

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