Psychology

A new online tool aims to create a real-time emotional map of how people all over the world feel. Called "We Feel," the tool analyzes 32,000 tweets a minute to monitor people's collective mood swings and how their emotions fluctuate over time globally.

Researchers at Stanford University are looking to make games more interactive, with a prototype controller that monitors the player's physiological responses, then changes the gameplay to make it more engaging based on the player's feelings.

Meet James. He’s a barman with a cheery disposition, is quick with your order, and doesn't tolerate queue jumping. He’s also a one-armed robot with a tablet for a head. But the curious thing about James is that he can read your body language to find out whether or not you want to order a drink.

New research demonstrates that it could be easy to trick the mind and trigger an out-of-body experience by getting a person to watch a video of themselves with their heartbeat projected on to it. The findings could lead to new treatments for people with perceptual disorders and also help dieters.

Engineers at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York have developed a prototype app that provides phones with a form of emotional intelligence.

Ford Motor Company is working on biometrics systems that would keep its MyFord Touch system from distracting drivers when they are negotiating stressful driving conditions.

The Yumemiru app detects when you enter REM sleep and plays a soundtrack aimed to influence your dreams.

Despite the bad press that gaming often gets, there is increasing evidence that it can have positive effects on kids.

The My Wake Up Call alarm clock wakes users up using motivational messages.

Newly-developed software has been shown to pick out deceptive online reviews with almost 90 percent accuracy.

A recent study suggests that playing relaxing video games leaves people feeling happier and more sociable than if they had played violent video games.

iPet Companion is a system that allows internet users to remotely play with cats living in animal shelters, via their computers and in real time.