With the increase of globalisation and the current rise in numbers of people moving abroad, learning a new language in an affordable and fun way is becoming more and more important. Parlangi is an e-learning provider which connects native speakers and learners of a specific language. They are invited to use a platform for video calls to talk and improve the language skills of the language learner.

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As of now, Parlangi provides different topics of conversations every 10 minutes to engage the speakers. Although this approach is relevant to keep the conversation going, it does have a few potential drawback as it can either be:

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Intrusive: A disruption of the flow of conversation can occur if both speakers are engaging in the topic of conversation and a topic switch pops up.
Infrequent: It might preferable to suggest a topic switch early on if:
a) The topic of conversation is not engaging both speakers (dominated by silence).

b) The topic is engaging only the native speaker (which defeats the purpose of the video call to improve the non-native speakers' speaking skills).

Goal
The goal of this thesis is to recognize SMOG sign language gestures using a Google Glas. The word corresponding to the gesture must be shown to the user. The model The goal of this project is to enhance the conversation topic suggestion feature and make it more dynamic. This can help provide a more fun and satisfying experience for the users of the platform. ‍

In order to do so, both the frequency and duration of silence of the conversation as well as the speech frequency of the individual speakers need to be determined. This information can be used to quantify the overall level of engagement of the speakers and suggest conversational topic switch at an appropriate timing.

Strong analytical abilities, knowledge of different statistical methods and a familiarity with research studies.
Working experience in Java development to build a tool that interfaces with the video platformi.
Strong interest in Speech/Audio processing [preferred].
Familiarity with tools like Python.
Excellent verbal and written communication in English.
You are currently pursuing a degree in computer science or related field.