Feeling out your texts. Illustration: USPTO
Because we carry our smartphones all the time, when our emotions run high, we send text messages quickly. Probably too quickly. Unfortunately, the person on the receiving end of these texts might not be able to determine if your messages were sent in anger, sadness or happiness — or if you’re just trolling. But if RIM has its way, future BlackBerries (if there are any) will be able to share your emotions via text.
A just-surfaced patent application from Research in Motion (RIM) details a smartphone feature that determines a sender’s emotional state while texting. The smartphone would be able to determine the sender’s state of mind using internal sensors, and the tapped-out text would be presented differently to indicate a particularly emotional moment.
The patent notes that while emoticons can currently convey the emotions behind a text message, having to hunt for the perfect smiley face takes time and disrupts the flow of texting. So, to figure out just how happy, angry or aggressive a person is, RIM would enlist a series of sensors that detect motion (think accelerometers and gyroscopes) and their attendant emotional states. A smartphone’s front-facing camera could also be used to determine a person’s facial expression.
The patent goes one step further with Galvanic skin-response sensors that would be used to determine a person’s blood pressure and heart rate. The sensors would be added to a BlackBerry’s touch screen, and the smartphone would check your vital stats while you text. It’s a cool concept, and the technology could be used for a whole host of other features.
For example, athletes might be interested in a system in which they simply tap their phones to see their own heart rates. It’s perhaps a better use of the technology than simply signaling to friends that you’re really, really peeved.
Via Engadget
Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/07/rim-wants-your-friends-to-know-when-youre-rage-texting/
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