What Is Metadata?
Metadata is a set of data that describes and gives information about other data. Most people experience metadata on the web in a search result as seen below:
At its root, metadata is additional information about the content. By seeing the description below the homepage link in the search result, users get additional context about the information they will be directed to if they click on the link. Other common examples of metadata are:
- Means of the creation of the data
- Purpose of the data
- Time and date of creation
- Creator or author of the data
- Location on a computer network where the data was created
- Standards used
- File size
- Data quality
- Source of the data
- The process used to create the data
How does this apply to conversations?
As we have continued to build Speak, we have been discussing this idea of another level of intelligence that is happening in our communication. This additional level of intelligence is obvious when seen in action: conversations are engaging, transitions to new topics are smooth and ending the conversation is frictionless. Some people believe these are just good communication skills. But, Speak what are good communication skills? How can we break them down? Especially, when some people are naturally attuned to be skilled communicators while others need to improve their abilities.
This is where conversation metadata comes into the discussion. Our core mission at Speak is to help people communicate better. We believe this is possible by creating conversation metadata. So, what is conversation metadata? It is similar to the search result meta description we showed above. But, the metadata gathered and displayed is much different. Instead of authors and file size, we look at data that can be collected from a conversation. As humans, we process this data both consciously and subconsciously. But, like many of us have experienced, that data is lost quickly (similar to losing your memories of a dream) as you talk about many topics or introduce another speaker.
But, what if we could collect that metadata? There are so many benefits that can come with that: we can remember conversations with better accuracy, we can see what emotional state we were in, the tone we gave off, we can see who said what and we can identify the main keywords and topics. Speak accomplishes this by recording conversations and transcribing them while extracting information from the words that were said, the way there were said, and the information captured visually if filmed.
Here are just some of the conversation metadata we can capture:
- Volume
- Frequency
- Intensity
- Keywords
- Topics
- Emotions
- Tones
- Visual Objects
- Eye Contact
- Posture
- Speed
- Length
- Words Per Minute
The Future of Communication
Here at Speak, we believe the way we are communicating has changed rapidly. But, we also believe we have a long way to go. With the emergence of technology like we are using at Speak, which includes speech-to-text, natural language processing, visual recognition and audio analysis, we have opened up an entire new realm of possibilities. Currently, Speak is able to analyze conversations after they have been done. But, we are already transcribing in real-time and are also building in real-time audio and video analysis. In real-time, we will be able to not only transcribe but also give instant feedback on tone and emotion depending on the way you or others are speaking.
By understanding who you are speaking with through real-time time feedback, Speak users will be able to adjust instantly to connect more deeply and communicate more effectively. After, they will also be able to go back and reflect on the communication in an easy-to-access dashboard.
How to Apply Conversation Metadata
There is an increasing amount of companies who are now working on taking the data from speech-driven content to provide better indexing and analysis. Here at Speak, we aim to be leaders in using this new technology and applying it to help people, nonprofits, and businesses communicate better.
Speak can be used seamlessly for recording, transcribing and analyzing meetings, interviews, presentations, phone calls and creating. Speak is also skilled at evaluating written content like blog posts, comments, social media and press releases.
Speak is still in development but will be launching a web application soon that users will be able to access. When the web application is live, users will be able to easily create and upload audio, video, and text for indexing and analysis and receive recommendations to improve communication. If you are interested in getting a demo of Speak, please contact us on our home page.
What do you think about conversation metadata?
