Pen against stress

Someday, if you want to know if you are stressed, take a pen.

Bruns Alonso , a graduate student at Delft University of Technology in the Dutch city of the same name, has created a type of pen that he says can identify short-term stress phenomena in users and then Can handle to reduce that pressure in part. This " anti-stress " pen does not measure the user's heart rate or skin response, but detects when its owner becomes restless and stressed.

Pen by Bruns Alonso. (Photo: Gizmag)

According to Alonso, experiments conducted during the study showed that people tend to play with the pen when they are stressed. The motion sensors at his stress pen will detect nerve movement, at which point the electromagnetism inside creates a counterbalance effect, and will make the pen difficult to move. Once the nerve movements stop, these electromagnetic effects also stop. Therefore, users exhibit unconsciously reduced pressure behaviors, indicating that stress has diminished.

When Alonso's pen was tested, those who received the effect from the pen had a significantly lower average heart rate than those who did not receive the effect. Neither of the test groups knew the pen was designed to create stress relief.

The authors conclude that short-term stress relieving products should have a direct impact on behavioral adjustment rather than just alerting users to their level of pressure.

Alonso's graduate student is only a prototype. More efforts will be needed before this product is marketed.