Reversing Voice-Related Biases Through Haptic Reinforcement

Biased perceptions of others are known to negatively influence the outcomes of social and professional interactions in many regards. Theses biases can be informed by a multitude of non-verbal cues such as voice pitch and voice volume. This project explores how haptic effects, generated from speech, could attenuate listeners' perceived voice-related biases formed from a speaker's voice pitch. Promising preliminary results collected during a decision-making task suggest that the speech to haptic mapping and vibration delivery mechanism employed does attenuate voice-related biases. Accordingly, it is anticipated that such a system could be introduced in the workplace to equalize people's contribution opportunities and to create a more inclusive environment by reversing voice-related biases.