Who remembers the mood rings of the '70s? They were all the rage and in the day the first year sold 20 million units. Fast forward to today and the technology available to improve on the idea. Guiliana Kotikela is the founder and CEO of ChiKeey which is modernizing the mood ring of the '70s and '80s. It is a biometric digital mood ring made to show emotions that allows you to connect with people.
On the ring, there are bio-physiological sensors that help you to understand yourself and in turn, understand others. Determining factors are the way you speak, skin temperature and the sweat that is emitted from your skin, and even your blood oxygen level. In the testing, the vocal biomarkers were found to be 90% accurate in 100 different trials. As of now, 8 different moods can be detected: fear, anxiety, desperation, joy, ecstasy, frustration, contentment, and neutrality.
In her previous job, Guiliana traveled a lot and had to leave her children home. While skyping with a daughter in the evening, she always asked her how her day was and felt that a quiet "fine" was not quite accurate because there was no eye contact from her daughter. Two days later the school called her to say that the girl was being bullied. That incident is what prompted the idea for this ring. Now there is relief on the mothers part because she can immediately know what her daughter's mood is and if there is a problem.
Mood sharing is made possible through the connected app. The wearer has the option to share their readings in real-time with the friends and family of their choosing. These people can respond based on the moods shown. For example, if you see that your bestie is having a hard time, you can call them up and offer to bring over ice cream to make it better! Connections with friends and loved ones are important to our overall daily well-being.
This product is available soon. For more information go to their website.
Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.
Daniele is a student at Florida Polytechnic University who is studying Computer Science with a concentration in Cyber Security. In High School, she was introduced to the science and technology world through the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), a robotics foundation where students of varying ages can compete through tasks that their robots perform. With help from mentors she met through FIRST, she became interested in programming and developing. Today, Daniele is a special events host for F5 Live: Refreshing Technology and PLuGHiTz Live Special Events and a co-host for both The New Product Launchpad and FIRST Looks.
