Innovation 12: Disputes — 12 Innovations for Tomorrow’s Business

Innovation Twelve: Biometric Empathy Resonance in Mediation

A Mini Forward

In the shadowy dusty corridors of traditional dispute resolution, the need for an overhaul is palpable. Trillions of dollars are spent on disputes by businesses each year, in direct costs, so clearly something isn’t working.

As business evolves at an unprecedented pace, so must our mechanisms for resolving conflict. I’m delving into twelve radical future innovations to reshape how businesses approach disputes. At the very least, it’s food for thought.

As with all revolutionary ideas, the journey and the destination count in equal measure. It’s a call to every visionary leader, every forward-thinking expert, and every aspirational business entity to think and play bigger for better results.

At a minimum, this series will expand your appreciation of possibility.

Decoding Biometrics in Emotion

And just like that we’re at innovation twelve, the final innovation of this series, and we’re ending this journey with biometrics…

The science of biometrics presents an untapped world of potential. Beyond common applications like security and identification, biometrics could reshape the very essence of interpersonal understanding in disputes. Enter the world of Biometric Empathy Resonance (BER) — where the physiological responses of individuals are synchronised to foster deeper understanding and resolution.

Biometrics, traditionally associated with fingerprint scans or retinal identification, also encompasses the physiological and behavioural patterns linked to emotions. Heart rate variability, skin conductance, and even micro-expressions can provide a window into an individual’s emotional state.

BER in Mediation

By allowing disputing parties to experience each other’s biometric responses in real-time, they can ‘feel’ the emotional gravity their counterpart is experiencing. It’s a form of emotional mirroring, and it’s incredibly interesting as a concept. Pinpointing moments of heightened stress, utilising ‘stress indicators’, can also guide mediators to tread carefully or address specific issues causing emotional spikes.

Facilitating sessions where both parties aim to synchronise their biometric responses can lead to calmer, more collaborative discussions. Prior to mediation, parties can also undergo biofeedback training to better control and understand their own emotional responses. It would be revolutionary.

Navigating the Biometric Landscape

Privacy concerns are not new. Not only do privacy concerns feature time and time again in this series, privacy concerns are something we tackle in everyday business even today. Sharing biometric data is deeply personal. Ensuring consent and data protection is critical to a solution like this.

What we haven’t touched on as of yet, and is very much unique to this innovation, is the concept of emotional overwhelm. It is both a consideration, and a material challenge; possibly even a risk. For some, feeling another’s emotions so viscerally can be overwhelming. Having to digest the temperament of another, particularly where someone is less balanced and prone to emotional extremes, could be very unpleasant.

Ensuring biometric tools’ accuracy is essential to prevent misinterpretation. Biometric Empathy Resonance represents the convergence of science, technology, and human emotion.

Fayola-Maria Jack is a Director at Healthy Good Business ®