People with stress usually ‘fidget’ in some way, such as tapping of the feet or playing with a pen or pencil. However PhD student Miguel Bruns Alonso from the Netherlands’ Delft University of Technology has designed a new pen that monitors your stress level and actually helps to reduce it. The pen houses motion sensors that detect rapid or stressful movement and counter that effect with electromagnets that creates a counterweight that limits the pens movement. “Sensors in a pen could provide an unobtrusive way of measuring stress levels. Giving users the right feedback could then help them deal with their stress in a constructive way, that is why I have developed a pen which can detect ‘nervous’ movements and determine whether the user is stressed” said Bruns. Tests involving the ‘stress pen’ have shown a 5% decrease in subjects who used it as opposed to those who didn’t. I for one plan on getting one of these stress reducing pens. For more information please visit: http://www.tudelft.nl/live/pagina.jsp?id=0f5dc277-1fc0-4487-b338-1f3cb389795f&lang=en
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