LOL Verifier Stops Your Lies

Human language is dynamic and always evolving. You don’t have to travel back in history very far to reach a time in which English becomes incomprehensible and the same is true for most languages. Our modern connected world seems to be increasing the rate of change and “LOL” is a perfect example. Just a couple of decades ago, it meant that something literally made you laugh. Now it means something akin “I’m not mad at you.” Brain Moore wanted to reintroduce integrity to the acronym, so he built the LOL Verifier that prevents users from abusing the iconic abbreviation.

“LOL” ostensibly means “laugh out loud” and this device ensures that the user can only type those letters after they actually emit an audible laugh, chuckle, chortle, or guffaw. If the user tries to type “LOL” under false pretenses, the device will delete that fraudulent text and replace it with the more accurate “that’s funny.” If the LOL is authentic, the device will add a verification (with timestamp) to the text so that recipients know that they can trust what they’ve read.

Even the most stoic people exhibit variation in their laughs. Some giggles are high-pitched and mirthful, while other snickers are quiet and subdued. The LOL Verifier counts them all. Moore trained an Edge Impulse machine learning model to recognize his different titters using 3+ minutes of audio recording containing hundreds of individual examples. The trained and packaged machine learning model runs on a Seeed Studio XIAO nRF52840 Sense microcontroller development board.

A separate Teensy 4.1 development board intercepts key presses going between a keyboard and computer. If it sees the letters “LOL” it checks with the XIAO to see if it detected a recent laugh. If it did, the Teensy 4.1 sends the “LOL” and verification key presses to the computer. If it didn’t, it will skip the “LOL” and inject the “that’s funny” instead.

Those components reside inside of a small 3D-printed enclosure. An LED in the center of the enclosure (where the “O” would be) indicates the success or failure of an attempted “LOL,” by illuminating in either green or red.

Not many people will have an interest in building an LOL Verifier, but the functionality could be built right into operating systems. If companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft committed to doing their civic duty, we as a society could put an end to erroneous lulz.