emo

'EmoBracelet' tells traders when they need a time-out

Has all that online stock trading landed you in trouble? Philips Design has come up with a product for frazzled day traders--and no, it's not software that locks you out of your computer when you place a buy order for Nokia.

It's a biometric-style emotion-sensing system that supposedly alerts traders when it might be wise to take a breath and step away from the Charles Schwab site.

The Rationalizer system consists of the EmoBracelet and corresponding EmoBowl. The bracelet measures the user's emotional arousal level through a skin response sensor and displays the findings as a dynamic … Read more

DemoFall ends with awards and emotional good-byes

SAN DIEGO--The Demo community--an august group of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and technology reporters--gave a fond farewell Wednesday afternoon here to longtime Demo managing director Chris Shipley.

As is well known, Shipley is leaving the helm of Demo, having now officially handed off the reins to VentureBeat founder Matt Marshall.

But as just about the last official act of DemoFall 09, Pat McGovern, the founder and chairman of IDG, which owns the Demo conferences, led the audience in a standing ovation for Shipley.

Prior to that sentimental moment, meanwhile, seven Demo God winners were announced, as well as the two winners … Read more

Audio speakers get a new look and feel

The heck with decades of one basic way of making speakers. A Waltham, Mass., company says it has developed an all-new and much better system, and hopes to change the way the consumer electronics deliver sound.

The idea behind the new speaker technology, known as Edge Motion, from Emo Labs is to jettison the traditional magnet-and-cone model in favor of something a lot more space-efficient, an innovation that is crucial in today's environment of rapidly shrinking devices. According to Emo Labs CEO Jason Carlson, while flat-screen TVs, for example, are getting thinner and thinner and the picture getting better … Read more

Emo jacket for the movies (emo boy not included)

This one's from a research team at Philips Electronics.

Designed to enhance the emotional experience of watching a movie, the emo jacket comprises 64 independent actuators, arranged in 16 groups of 4, across the arms and torso. Eight of these, spaced 6 inches apart and located on each sleeve, can create the illusion of being tapped in several spots.

A pair of AA-size cells is sufficient to keep the jacket juiced for an hour, though the team should be looking at extending this since most movies run for about two hours on average.

Lest you're worried, the garment … Read more

Mr. Whippy, the ice cream machine for sad miserable overeaters

Do you eat ice cream when you're sad? I sure do. When I saw that my nasty co-worker Tim Moynihan had pitted the Beer-Launching Fridge against Keepon the Dancing Robot in his artificial intelligence showdown, I got totally emo because I had no idea who to vote for. Then I bought myself a pint of Phish Food and ate it for breakfast with a side of Kleenex, sunny side down.

But technology is always making our lives easier, and here's a gadget that can help me figure out just how much self-pity eating I'll need to do … Read more