Code-switching is an everyday experience for many immigrants, and it often happens involuntarily and quickly – without the speaker recognizing the change. I envisioned Switch, a mobile and smart speaker app that tracks your code-switching habits. I wanted to explore how digital technology might give immigrants agency over how they present themselves through speech.
More info: manakotamura.com
1. Set Your Code-Switching Goals
Switch lets users track their code switch on their phones and smart speakers by listening to their conversations and learning their speech patterns. Here, you can set your goals - it sends the user nudges when they’re speaking in one manner for a certain period of time – thus encouraging them to push the boundaries of their comfort zones and try speaking with other accents. It aims to encourage users to embrace the multitude of their identities, and feel more comfortable expressing themselves authentically regardless of context.
2. Track Your Code Switch
Switch tracks your code switch with numbers of spoken words, time of the day, and geolocation.
3. Alexa Keeps Your Code-Switch In Check
Integrating with Amazon Alexa lets the voice assistant check in with you to keep you on track.
4. Set Up Process
Help Switch learn your accent by reading example phrases out loud, just like you would with Alexa's Voice Recognition. Once you create voice profiles, you can start tracking your code switch.
5. 'Nudge' Notifications from Switch
More than a tracking app, Switch is a habit-changing app. By setting the goals to code-switch less, the app nudges the users to speak with their accent, encouraging them to push the boundaries of their comfort zones and try speaking with the other accents.