You are in the meeting room with your team. Your manager is in her office with what looks like a lava lamp. You all laugh at a joke. She smiles when her lamp turns yellow. You are happy so she is happy.
GS Yuasa and the University of Tokyo released a Symbiotic Hosting
Online Jog Instrument, or SHOJI, 
that supposedly gives a manager--or anyone--the ability to tell what
the mood in a particular room is like. Using LEDs, the SHOJI can
determine the
mental condition of the occupants of a room. A single terminal determines the mood in one room (using the sensors and microphones) and transmits it by way of the internet
to another room. The LEDs show the final output using color codes for
each mood; in this case there is red for anger, blue for sadness, yellow
for happiness, and green for peace.
So I'm wondering:
what happens if half the room is angry and the other half is happy?
Does the manager see orange? And what happens if a decision makes some
people angry but gives those in agreement a sense of peace? OK, I think the technology looks like fun. Sort of a high-tech parlor game.
If a manager were to
take this seriously--and some will--it's one more way to keep them from
actually relating with their people. Instead of gazing at a managerial
mood ring, they could say something really profound like, uh, "Hey, how
do you feel about the new project software?" Then a real discussion
might follow that leads to better implementation of the software. Suddenly, the skies would open and a yellow
and green glow would fill the room.
In the meantime, I
can see a lot of side benefits from having one of these gizmos at the
company Christmas party.(If you want to save up to give it as a gift, it will set you back US$2,500-3,000).
Until then, "Hi, I'm Steve. I'm an Aquarius and I feel really Yellow about you. I like quiet walks on the beach when I'm feeling Red. Most of all, I hope everyone joins together for World Green."
And thanks for indulging me. This was my way of recuperating from a meeting that lasted well into the evening.
Comments