Ix-Nay on the Exmo

5:25 PM -- And you thought the 70s were over.

Today's cool/worthless wireless device is the "Exmocare"biosensor wristwatch, a Bluetooth-enabled device designed for elderly care that claims to monitor not only the wearer's heart rate and activity level, but their emotions. Data is transmitted via a local Bluetooth connection to a Web-based alerting service that contacts caregivers via SMS, email, and/or instant messenger.

That's right: Strap this baby on Grandma and you'll know if she's depressed, angst-ridden, angry, or floating on an endless sea of bliss. Sort of.

Produced by physiological sensor technology company Exmovere LLC, Exmocare can be "used for rudimentary assessments of up to 10 different emotional states, including when its elderly wearer is relaxed, upbeat, worried, agitated, etc." This empathic feat is accomplished using "established algorithms and calculations relied upon in the fields of neuropsychology and biofeedback," the company says. Lab testing has yielded "accurate results (with a 25-percent margin of error)."

Hmm… 25 percent, eh? So that means Uncle Louie in Roxbury could be suicidal or… just p.o.'d at the Red Sox again! Totally positive or… enjoying a frozen strawberry daiquiri!

I dunno -- wouldn't a nice mood bracelet ($24.97 with a money-back guarantee) be cheaper, not to mention more stylish?

— Richard Martin, Senior Editor, Unstrung