While the Virtual Hallucinating goggles and Brain Machine can certainly give you a taste of the erratic, a new behavioral-pattern monitor at the University of California, San Diego will reportedly be used to "study the behavior of patients with mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia." The LifeShirt, "a computerized vest that continuously monitors the patient's movements," sports integrated sensors to monitor hyperactive and repetitive movements and record data on "respiration, heart rate, and other physiological measures." Notably, the padded room wearers are presumably crammed into sports a ceiling-mounted webcam that films their exploratory behavior in order to better analyze movement patterns associated with certain disorders. Eventually, of course, researchers are hoping that data collected from the sensor-laden straight jacket could be used to create new drugs to help combat the behavioral abnormalities, but for all of our sakes, let's hope this thing doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

[Via MedGadget, photo courtesy of TechnologyReview]

We've certainly seen crafty methods of keeping humans from dozing off when alertness matters most, but WiebeTech's latest actually does a number on your exhausted computer by refusing to let those power savings settings kick in. The admittedly clever Mouse Jiggler rocks a diminutive USB design, and once plugged into your Mac or PC, it takes over your motionless cursor and shakes it all across the screen, effectively denying the machine its heartfelt wish to fall asleep when idle. Of course, this may not do the average user a whole lot of good, but for those locked-down corporate workstations that frustrate IT heads on end by dozing off just before a download / installation is complete, here's your hero. Notably, the Mouse Jiggler comes in "Fast" and "Slow" flavors to suit your cursor-dementing needs, and each can be snapped up right now for $29.95.

[Via MetaFilter]

Considering the recent console launches, we've seen plenty of bizarre episodes of folks demolishing their precious goods just to get a few laughs, a bit of hate mail, and their 15 minutes of fame. But ole Tom Dickson over at WillItBlend.com added a touch of kitchen know-how to his rendition by squaring up various items with the oh-so-sharp blades of a Blendtec blender. Needless to say, the iPod didn't stand much of a chance, as it was thoroughly devoured in a matter of seconds, turning a once useful DAP into nothing more than shrapnel and dust. While we're fairly certain this isn't what Apple had in mind when it patented a blended display / interface, maybe all those metallic chunks wouldn't be too bad mixed in with your choice of fruity goodness -- click on for the delectable vid.

[Via digg]