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Emotion-tracking rings to assist in distance learning
Let's face it, not all of us will have the luxury of attending a school where we get to construct massive LEGO machines or learn how to become savvy in SMS, but a developing technology that tracks student emotions could help tutors and distance instructors alike in keeping kids focused while learning. Co-developed by Essex University's Vic Callaghan and Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Liping Shen, the emotion-tracking tutoring software can analyze physical signs to keep track of a student's attention span, their level of understanding, and even the amount of stress a certain lesson produces. Aimed to help tutors become more effective and to add another layer of "personal" to distance-based education courses, the software would receive information about a student's "heart rate, blood pressure and changes in electrical resistance caused by perspiration" via a sensor-laden, Bluetooth-enabled ring worn on one's finger. The information can then be assessed to determine a student's interest level and frustration level, but a decibel meter to measure snoring isn't likely to be included. If all goes as planned, the team intends on testing the system out in "real learning scenarios in China" to further tweak their creation, so it won't be too long now before an interest-tracking ring will become as necessary as pencil and paper a stylus and a tablet PC come class time.
Final Fantasy: Ring of Fates trailer
And rounding up the recent deluge of Square-Enix trailers from their annual Jump Festa event, this Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates trailer certainly impresses. There's some shiny text, and then a long, confusing sequence in which one tries to focus on five different scenes in the picture at once. Leave it to SE to try and simply overwhelm your senses ... they're rather good at that.The original Crystal Chronicles was a bit of a let-down, but this title can hopefully bring FF:CC out of the "crappy Final Fantasy spin-offs" category. Oh, and for a slightly higher quality version of the trailer, click here for the official movie from Square-Enix's website.(And did anyone check out what appeared to be a stylus-based fire spell around 1:41? Awesome.)[via Penny Arcade]
BlackBerry Pearl won't ring in your pocket
Anyone who's had the good fortune of seeing a Pearl in the flesh knows that it's one extraordinarily good looking phone, particularly by BlackBerry standards. Unfortunately, where we come from, phones that don't ring are called "paperweights" -- which is exactly what the Pearl becomes when the trackball gets nudged. You know, like if it's in your pocket, or your purse, or pretty much anywhere besides a stationary counter top. As it turns out, when the phone rings, the handset immediately silences the ringer with even the slightest movement of the trackball, regardless of whether keylock is enabled. While we do appreciate the Pearl taking the initiative for us and ignoring phone calls so we don't have to, there is an occasional situation where we like to make the decision ourselves, and until RIM issues a fix users simply don't have that option. Strangely, two Engadget editors patiently attempted to explain the issue to a RIM representative this week at CTIA for several minutes without success; we think the first step to RIM issuing a fix would be for the company to understand the problem, so we could be in for a bit of a wait. Maybe the words we were using were too big?
95-decibel ring amplifier blinds, deafens you
You might think of this as the polar opposite of the "stealth" ringtone: an e-shop is offering a $60 device for blasting you with a 95-decibel ring (the same as a subway train at 200 feet, we're told) and a flashing strobe light when you receive a call. Now, we can clearly see some valid uses for this product -- for example, in a very noisy environment, when you can't be near your phone, or perhaps for the hard of hearing. But we can definitely see some misuses, as well -- if you have any friends giving the wine glass thing a try, can we suggest a covert nighttime switcheroo?
