This version provides a number of new features, including summary reports that are immediately available and the ability to analyse videos for emotional content, both via a new user interface tuned for DIY agility and responsiveness.

Combined with Phebi’s legacy of providing rich emotional insights as a no-programming-required add-on to MR platforms and web forms, these new tools are expected to move Phebi from selective use on high-profile projects to everyday use by agencies and brands. Clients can now easily collect and use non-conscious emotional insights from human speech at scale, according to the Southampton-based company.

Phebi detects, analyses and scores people’s emotions based on the characteristics of their speech (tonal analysis). It is used in quantitative research to get longer, richer responses to open-ended questions and in qualitative research to analyse audio and video files in real-time. Phebi transcribes what is said (including translating into English if required), detects emotions, delivers reports summarising insights for presentations and provides tools for in-depth analysis.

“Phebi has been consistently recognised for how its innovative combination of behavioural science research and voice tech enhances research by providing insights based on people’s non-conscious emotional responses”, said Phebi co-founder and chief executive Mike Page.

He continued: “In addition to rich new insights, the industry increasingly prizes agility. This new version dramatically changes Phebi’s speed-to-insight [process]. With our customers, we looked at every step from set-up and voice capture to initial summaries and the ability to go deeper by subgroup, topic and/or emotion.

“Together, we found ways to save time and effort while revealing even more insights into emotion and engagement. Now, agencies and brands can immediately see the emotional landscape for the topics in their project and discover high-interest moments, as well as being able to quickly uncover next-level insights.”