Non-contact stress assessment devices

Abstract

Embodiments of a system are disclosed for stress assessment of a call center agent while interacting with a customer. The system is for use with a communication network. The system includes a stress assessment device and an agent device that includes an imaging unit. The agent device is configured to capture video of a target region of exposed skin of the agent using the imaging unit, collect customer interaction data based on interaction with a customer device over the communication network, and communicate the captured video and the customer interaction data to the stress assessment device. The stress assessment device is configured to passively estimate agent stress-level based on the received video, and generate feedback to the agent based on correlation between the customer interaction data and the estimated stress-level over a predefined time interval.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A system for stress assessment of a call center agent while interacting with a customer, the system for use with a communication network, the system comprising:
 a stress assessment device; and 
 an agent device that includes an imaging unit, the device being configured to: 
 capture a video of a target region of exposed skin of the agent using the imaging unit; 
 collect customer interaction data based on interaction with a customer device over the communication network; and 
 communicate the captured video and the customer interaction data to the stress assessment device; 
 wherein the stress assessment device is configured to: 
 passively estimate agent stress-level based on the received video; and 
 generate feedback to the agent based on correlation between the customer interaction data and the estimated stress-level over a predefined time interval. 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the agent stress-level is estimated in real-time. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the feedback is generated to the agent in real-time. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the stress assessment device is further configured to:
 generate a time-series signal from the captured video, wherein the time-series signal includes at least one low frequency (LF) component and at least one high frequency (HF) component in the integrated power spectrum of the time-series signal over a predefined interval; 
 compute a ratio of the at least one LF component and the at least one HF component; and 
 estimate agent stress based on the ratio exceeding a predefined stress threshold. 
 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 4 , wherein the predefined stress threshold has one or more values, wherein at least one value of the predefined stress threshold is equal to one. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 4 , wherein the ratio detects heart rate variability of the agent. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the stress assessment device is further configured to determine stress-trigger points from the customer interaction data for the agent. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the stress assessment device is further configured to generate a stress profile for the agent using the estimated agent stress-level. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the customer interaction data is correlated with the estimated stress-level based on agent identification data. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the agent device is further configured to:
 generate agent identification data; and 
 communicate the generated agent identification data to the stress assessment device. 
 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 10 , wherein the agent identification data includes at least one of system login ID, system password, biometric data, name, and employee ID. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the generated feedback includes at least one of a message, an audio indication, and a visual indication. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the generated feedback includes at least one predefined stress remedial messages. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the customer interaction data includes at least one of customer responses to an interactive voice response (IVR) system, audio interactions, video interactions, text messages, call summaries, and customer-provided feedback, wherein the audio interactions include at least one of voice calls and recorded audio messages, and the video interactions include at least one of video calls and recorded video messages. 
     
     
       15. A device for generating feedback to a call center agent during communication with a customer, the device comprising:
 a video analysis module for receiving a video of a target region of exposed skin of the agent, the video analysis module being configured to passively estimate stress-level of the agent based on the received video over a predefined time interval; 
 a customer interaction module for receiving data collected based communication between the agent and the customer, the customer interaction module being configured to correlate the data with the estimated stress-level over the predefined time interval; and 
 a feedback module configured to generate feedback to the agent after the estimated stress-level exceeds a predefined stress threshold, the generated feedback including predefined suggestive messages based on the correlated data. 
 
     
     
       16. The device of  claim 15 , wherein the agent stress-level is estimated in real-time. 
     
     
       17. The device of  claim 15 , wherein the feedback is generated in real-time. 
     
     
       18. The device of  claim 15 , wherein the video analysis module is further configured to:
 generate a time-series signal from the received video, wherein the time-series signal includes at least one low frequency (LF) component and at least one high frequency (HF) component in the integrated power spectrum over the predefined interval; 
 compute a ratio of the at least one LF component and the at least one HF component; and 
 estimate the stress-level based on the ratio exceeding the predefined stress threshold. 
 
     
     
       19. The device of  claim 18 , wherein the predefined stress threshold has one or more values, wherein at least one value of the predefined stress threshold is equal to one. 
     
     
       20. The device of  claim 18 , wherein the ratio detects heart rate variability of the agent. 
     
     
       21. The device of  claim 15 , wherein the video analysis module is further configured to determine stress-trigger points from the received data for the agent. 
     
     
       22. The device of  claim 15 , wherein the video analysis module is further configured to generate a stress profile for the agent using the estimated agent stress-level. 
     
     
       23. The device of  claim 15 , wherein the received data is correlated with the estimated stress-level based on agent identification data. 
     
     
       24. The device of  claim 23 , wherein the agent identification data includes at least one of system login ID, system password, biometric data, name, and employee ID. 
     
     
       25. The device of  claim 15 , wherein the generated feedback includes at least one of a message, an audio indication, and a visual indication. 
     
     
       26. The device of  claim 15 , wherein the received data includes at least one of customer responses to an interactive voice response (IVR) system, audio interactions, video interactions, text messages, call summaries, and customer-provided feedback, wherein the audio interactions include at least one of voice calls and recorded audio messages, and the video interactions include at least one of video calls and recorded video messages. 
     
     
       27. A method for generating feedback during interaction between an agent and a customer, the method comprising:
 receiving customer interaction data and video of a target region of exposed skin of the agent; 
 processing the video to generate a time-series signal and to extract low frequency and high frequency components from the generated time-series signal; 
 determining stress profile of the agent based on a ratio of the low frequency components and the high frequency components of the integrated power spectrum of the time-series signal over a predefined time interval, wherein the ratio exceeds a predefined stress threshold; 
 correlating the customer interaction data with the determined stress profile; 
 identifying agent stress-trigger points based on the correlated customer interaction data; and 
 generating feedback based on the determined stress profile, wherein the feedback includes suggestive predefined remedial messages based on the identified agent stress-trigger points. 
 
     
     
       28. The method of  claim 27 , further comprising:
 receiving agent identification data; and 
 correlating the customer interaction data with the determined stress profile based on the received agent identification data. 
 
     
     
       29. The method of  claim 27 , wherein the predefined stress threshold has one or more values, wherein at least one value of the predefined stress threshold is equal to one. 
     
     
       30. The method of  claim 27 , wherein the stress profile of the agent is determined in real-time. 
     
     
       31. The method of  claim 27 , wherein the feedback is generated in real-time. 
     
     
       32. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for generating feedback during interaction between an agent and a customer, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions for:
 receiving customer interaction data and video of a target region of exposed skin of the agent; 
 processing the video to generate a time-series signal and to extract low frequency and high frequency components from the generated time-series signal; 
 determining stress profile of the agent based on a ratio of the low frequency components and the high frequency components of the integrated power spectrum of the time-series signal over a predefined time interval, wherein the ratio exceeds a predefined stress threshold; 
 correlating the customer interaction data with the determined stress profile; 
 identifying agent stress-trigger points based on the correlated customer interaction data; and 
 generating feedback based on the determined stress profile, wherein the feedback includes suggestive predefined remedial messages based on the identified agent stress-trigger points. 
 
     
     
       33. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 32 , further comprising:
 receiving agent identification data; and 
 correlating the customer interaction data with the determined stress profile based on the received agent identification data. 
 
     
     
       34. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 32 , wherein the predefined stress threshold has one or more values, wherein at least one value of the predefined stress threshold is equal to one. 
     
     
       35. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 32 , wherein the stress profile of the agent is determined in real-time. 
     
     
       36. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 32 , wherein the feedback is generated in real-time.