Voice-Based Lie Detector Technology Gets a Patent
National Institute for Truth Verification (NITV) founder Charles Humble has been awarded a second patent for his CVSA II (Computer Voice Stress Analyzer). The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Humble U.S. Patent # 7,571,101 for “Quantifying Psychological Stress Levels Using Voice Patterns” Aug. 4.
His first patent, U.S. Patent # 7,321,855, “Method for Quantifying Psychological Stress Levels Using Voice Patterns Samples,” which covered the Final Analysis Confirmation Tool (FACT) scoring algorithm, was awarded in 2008.
Both patents essentially cover the establishment of the numerical values associated with stress levels that identify when someone is being deceptive, Humble explains. The CVSA II charts the changes in the frequency and modulation of the voice when an individual is lying, he adds.
The CVSA II, which is already used by more than 1,800 federal and local law enforcement agencies and the U.S. military, accurately scores voice patterns for stress levels and then evaluates the entire examination to render a ‘No Deception Indicated’ or ‘Deception Indicated’ result, eliminating possible bias during the examination process. The solution, which allows for real-time or post-interview analysis, reportedly has an accuracy rating of more than 96 percent.
The embedded software, which runs on a laptop computer, can evaluate a live conversation, phone conversation, or recorded audio. And, with the new algorithm, “recorded audio is just as good as live audio,” Humble says.
“From the Atlanta P.D. to the Nashville P.D. to the California Highway Patrol, this is an investigative tool that has proved itself to be invaluable in the field,” says Alan Hall, operations administrator at the NITV and a former military intelligence officer.
The NITV claims that the CVSA II is responsible for tens-of-thousands of criminals being brought to justice, including a number of high-profile cases in the last few months. In one case, a Louisiana man accused of raping his son was about to be released by judicial order for lack of physical evidence, but when he was confronted with CVSA II’s analysis of his interrogation, he gave a full confession. In another, a Utah man confessed to a brutal murder, and even led police to the murder weapon, after being confronted with the results of CVSA II’s analysis of his questioning by police.
“CVSA is much less complicated than a polygraph,” Humble says. “A polygraph uses a lot of squiggly lines that you do not necessarily know what they mean. This uses simple graphs that chart their stress levels.”
Though used today primarily by law enforcement, Humble sees CVSA technology gaining acceptance anywhere it is important to know if someone is not being 100 percent truthful. It could, for example, really help therapists and guidance counselors get at the root of an individual’s problems during sessions on the couch, he says.