Nemesysco
Encyclopedia
Nemesysco is an Israeli company that makes lie detector
s and other products based on voice analysis
. They have been used in airports in Israel and Russia, by insurance companies and social security helplines in the United Kingdom and sold to consumers. It has raised controversy about privacy and whether is it scientific or not. Users have claimed savings, mostly by subjects being more honest when told they are subjected to a lie detector. The CEO is Amir Liberman and the Executive Chairman is David Ofek. Their trademarked method is called Layered Voice Analysis (LVA), a kind of voice stress analysis
.
Local authorities in the United Kingdom have used lie detectors from Nemesysco for social security helplines. This drew criticism for not publishing the results of tests and for flagging innocent but nervous callers. The latter criticism was, however, misplaced, since investigation of the workings of Nemesysco's products has shown them incapable of detecting vocal signals of nervousness.
A 2006 study at the University of Florida
for the Counterintelligence Field Activity
concluded that LVA did not show any sensitivity to the presence of deception or stress. A 2008 study funded by the National Institute of Justice
found that neither LVA nor the competing Computer Voice Stress Analyzer (CVSA) were able to detect lies better than random, but its use does deter people from lying, the bogus pipeline
effect.
In 2007 two Swedish professors of linguistics, Francisco Lacerda of Stockholm University
and Anders Eriksson of Gothenburg University
, published an article called "Charlatanry in forensic speech science" in the International Journal of Speech Language and the Law. Here they examined the workings of a Nemesysco product, and showed that it behaved in pseudo-random fashion when purporting to identify spoken lies. Nemesysco demanded that the article should be withdrawn from the online version of the magazine, and the publisher Equinox did so. Nemesysco's lawyers then sent letters to the Swedish professors where they threatened to sue them for defamation if they published similar articles again. This resulted in criticism of Nemesysco for trying to silence academic research, and of the publisher for not understanding how to manage a scientific journal. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
branded the company's behavior a "serious assault on research freedom".
technology, and instead uses their own unique patented technology to detect "brain activity traces" in a subject's voice via a wide spectrum analysis.
Lie Detector
"Lie Detector" is a CD single by The Reverend Horton Heat. It was released in October 1998 on Sub Pop.-Personnel:*Jim "Reverend Horton" Heath - lead vocals, guitar*Jimbo Wallace - upright bass, vocals*Scott Churilla - drums, vocals...
s and other products based on voice analysis
Voice analysis
Voice analysis is the study of speech sounds for purposes other than linguistic content, such as in speech recognition. Such studies include mostly medical analysis of the voice i.e. phoniatrics, but also speaker identification...
. They have been used in airports in Israel and Russia, by insurance companies and social security helplines in the United Kingdom and sold to consumers. It has raised controversy about privacy and whether is it scientific or not. Users have claimed savings, mostly by subjects being more honest when told they are subjected to a lie detector. The CEO is Amir Liberman and the Executive Chairman is David Ofek. Their trademarked method is called Layered Voice Analysis (LVA), a kind of voice stress analysis
Voice stress analysis
Voice Stress Analysis technology is said to record psychophysiological stress responses that are present in human voice, when a person suffers psychological stress in response to a stimulus and where the consequences may be dire for the subject being 'tested'.In the Detection Of Deception ...
.
Local authorities in the United Kingdom have used lie detectors from Nemesysco for social security helplines. This drew criticism for not publishing the results of tests and for flagging innocent but nervous callers. The latter criticism was, however, misplaced, since investigation of the workings of Nemesysco's products has shown them incapable of detecting vocal signals of nervousness.
A 2006 study at the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
for the Counterintelligence Field Activity
Counterintelligence Field Activity
Counterintelligence Field Activity was a United States Department of Defense agency whose size and budget were classified. The CIFA was created by a directive from the Secretary of Defense on February 19, 2002...
concluded that LVA did not show any sensitivity to the presence of deception or stress. A 2008 study funded by the National Institute of Justice
National Institute of Justice
The National Institute of Justice is the research, development and evaluation agency of the United States Department of Justice. NIJ, along with the Bureau of Justice Statistics , Bureau of Justice Assistance , Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention , Office for Victims of Crime ,...
found that neither LVA nor the competing Computer Voice Stress Analyzer (CVSA) were able to detect lies better than random, but its use does deter people from lying, the bogus pipeline
Bogus pipeline
The bogus pipeline is a technique used by social psychologists to reduce false answers when attempting to collect self-report data. For example, social desirability is a common reason for warped survey results....
effect.
In 2007 two Swedish professors of linguistics, Francisco Lacerda of Stockholm University
Stockholm University
Stockholm University is a state university in Stockholm, Sweden. It has over 28,000 students at four faculties, making it one of the largest universities in Scandinavia. The institution is also frequently regarded as one of the top 100 universities in the world...
and Anders Eriksson of Gothenburg University
Gothenburg University
The University of Gothenburg is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg.- Character :The University of Gothenburg is the third-oldest Swedish university, and with 24,900 full-time students it is also among the largest universities in the Nordic countries...
, published an article called "Charlatanry in forensic speech science" in the International Journal of Speech Language and the Law. Here they examined the workings of a Nemesysco product, and showed that it behaved in pseudo-random fashion when purporting to identify spoken lies. Nemesysco demanded that the article should be withdrawn from the online version of the magazine, and the publisher Equinox did so. Nemesysco's lawyers then sent letters to the Swedish professors where they threatened to sue them for defamation if they published similar articles again. This resulted in criticism of Nemesysco for trying to silence academic research, and of the publisher for not understanding how to manage a scientific journal. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2...
branded the company's behavior a "serious assault on research freedom".
Products
- Love Detector for computers or phones is claimed to indicate whether a partner is being truthful. Developed by the A.I. Sense unit.
- GK-1, used in airports.
Layered Voice Analysis
Layered Voice Analysis (LVA) is claimed by Nemesysco to give an understanding of a subject's mental and emotional state by detecting the "emotional content" of his or her speech when answering questions. LVA is said to identify stress levels, cognitive processes, and emotional reactions. Nemesysco say that it is not a voice stress analysisVoice stress analysis
Voice Stress Analysis technology is said to record psychophysiological stress responses that are present in human voice, when a person suffers psychological stress in response to a stimulus and where the consequences may be dire for the subject being 'tested'.In the Detection Of Deception ...
technology, and instead uses their own unique patented technology to detect "brain activity traces" in a subject's voice via a wide spectrum analysis.