mood

Ice bucket brings mood lighting to the party

Mood lighting is important in any situation. However, when a bottle of wine is opened the need is even more pronounced. It just calls for having the lights down low and some pleasant tunes on the hi-fi. Of course some friendly company is an agreeable accompaniment too.

But what of the times when the lights just aren't right? Too low or too bright, sometimes it's tricky to set the proper mood.

Enter the Drink Light Bottle Cooler. Or rather, turn it on.

This combination designed by Jorge Najera takes the lowly ice bucket and transforms it into something … Read more

LED pen can let everyone know your mood

From its weird name to bizarre product lineup, we've always been fascinated by Hong Kong-based Brando. It has, after all, been single-handedly responsible for giving us everything from lip phones and mosquito repellants to mouse massagers and aromatherapy speakers.

But every once in a long while, it comes up with something we'd actually consider buying. And this is one of the exceptions: an LED message pen. We have no idea why--it's not as if we need one to advertise our business or anything, though it would be pretty nifty to have one that lit up with "… Read more

The 'SunSpa': Light therapy for the bipolar pet

Depression among household pets may be worse than originally believed.

We thought the issue was more isolated last month upon learning of the "Fauna Sauna"--its name doesn't exactly scream credibility--a device that uses radiant heat "to bring healing to your pet right in your home." But now it has competition in the "SunSpa," another product that claims to control mood swings by simulating sunlight "for a warm and soothing heaven for your pets," according to Luxurylaunches. We're not sure about that, but it does look considerably more comfy than … Read more

Gadgettes 85: The things that glow episode

Glowing things can be somewhat morbid. They can be somewhat toolie. But sometimes, if you're lucky, they can be totally and completely PRETTTTTY. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 85

The Hanged Man Lamp: Ever so slightly morbid? http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2008/04/the_hanged_man.html

Mood Clock + USB Hub = Twice as much fun http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2008/04/usb_moody_clock.html

Glowing flower pot for the trippy garden owner http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2008/04/glowing_flower.html

Enjoy nighttime bocce ball with LED Bocce http://dvice.com/archives/2008/04/enjoy_nighttime.php

Light-up tweezers enable precision plucking … Read more

The Barry White of lightbulbs

Why did this LED lightbulb catch our eye? Three simple reasons: 1) We like LED stuff; 2) we like weird remotes even more, and 3) Caroline McCarthy demands that we post anything that might vaguely qualify as "color-changey."

Naturally, this multi-color LED lightbulb with remote was a no-brainer. The bulb, which we saw on the Gadgets Weblog, has 16 colors that can be adjusted at various brightness intensities and includes "transitions effects" such as longer times on particular colors and slow fades in between. Perfect to create the right mood, per orders from the The Ladies Man.… Read more

Airplane mood cabins

Swiss automotive design house Rinspeed announced a new initiative to design airplane cabins with light displays on the walls. According to its press release, Rinspeed says it can replace "clinical and plastic-orientated ceiling and side panels" with "soft-focus effect pictures and patterns, which are supported by sound and aromas". Rinspeed calls its cabin design Sensosphere. It relies on a computer-controlled electroluminescent material lining the cabin walls for the displays, and we're not really sure what it relies on for the aromas. But anything has got to smell better than the passenger in the next seat. … Read more

When you don't want to talk to anyone

We all have days when we just don't want to talk to anyone, especially those office pests who think nothing of barging into our private sanctuary without warning. (You know who you are.) That's where the "Memo Motion Sensor" is indispensible.

This handy little gadget can record a 10-second message and play it back to whomever enters the room, informing them of your whereabouts, instructions or anything else you'd otherwise leave on a Post-It note that might or might not be seen, according to Coolest-Gadgets. Even an inspirational message, if you're so inclined.

It'… Read more

Lights for the sake of lights

A gadget that projects colored lights may seem pointless to many people, especially when it has no raver or laser effects. But for us it conjures memories of our childhood when, every Christmas, our cheapskate dad would pull out a silver aluminum tree that came with a rotating lamp to give it "festive colors." How depressing.

As best we can tell from the description on TechEBlog, Philips' "LivingColors" is basically just a multi-hued LED lamp that can be dimmed or intensified by remote control to match your mood (see the YouTube clip below). Why anyone would … Read more

Mood phone analyzes your emotions

If you crossed a mood ring with a cell phone, what would you get? More importantly, why would anyone think of such a thing?

The people at Panasonic and NTT DoCoMo have apparently done just that, and the result is a mobile phone that changes color depending on your emotional state. The key to this bizarre feature is something called the "Feel Talk" function (so Japanese), which analyzes your voice tones and patterns while you're conversing.

Depending on what kind of day you're having, according to Gear Live, the phone can show "10 variations of … Read more