Sanyo's lie-detecting massage chair

(Credit: Sanyo)

We have a theory (yes, another one). We've often wondered why shopping malls continue to thrive, despite the convenience of online commerce, but then it dawned on us: massage chairs. So we suspect that there's a secret cartel among all retailers to develop them in new forms all the time.

The latest conspirator to surface is Sanyo, with its "Zero Gravity" model. Language from its press release sounds like it came straight from NASA's R&D labs: Using its "Stiffness Detection Sensor" technology, the chair "diagnoses stress areas by measuring changes in pulse rate and perspiration."

But a word of caution: Sanyo says the concept borrows from the technology used in lie detectors. So be careful if you have any hackers in the house.