Somewhat cheekily, I thought, a press officer at HSBC sent me a link this week about a new product that has been jointly developed by Royal Philips Electronics and the Dialogues Incubator, an initiative by ABN AMRO. Called the ‘Rationalizer’, the product has two components - the EmoBracelet and the EmoBowl. The bracelet measures the arousal component of the user’s emotion through a galvanic skin response sensor. This arousal level is rendered as a dynamic light pattern on either the EmoBracelet itself or on the EmoBowl.
The system was designed after research showed home investors do not always act rationally – which shouldn’t really come as any surprise – and this can compromise their ability to act objectively. I know plenty of traders who should put the Rationalizer on their Christmas list, but as I told the HSBC spokesman, I don’t need one, because I NEVER GET STRESSY, RIGHT!
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