With people more likely to be locking eyes with their smartphone screens these days when they’re hanging around in public, the London-based designers behind this feathery wearable are worried that the chances for exchanging flirtatious glances with passing strangers is being engineered out of daily life. Or, let’s be honest, translated into monetizable swipes on Tinder et al.

Their answer to smartphones stealing our presence and peripheral vision is a sensory device called Ripple that’s on the look out for admiring glances on its wearers’ behalf. Albeit, given that the wearer would be wearing what looks like two large and trembling, silver-tipped sea anemones on their shoulders it’s entirely possible they’ll garner more than the average number of side-eyes. Still, who knows what the future of fashion will look like? Let alone the future of dating…

The project, by four designers on the Innovation Design Engineering joint double masters course at Imperial College London and The Royal College of Art, combines sensors and computer vision tech with a series of slender protuberances that tremor when mutual attraction is detected, via a pair of on-board cameras.

“Ripple is a wearable extension of your body for the future of dating, which calculates who in a room is attracted to you,” they write. “When it finds someone, it gives you sensorial feedback, reflecting the excitement you feel when meeting someone special. If the attraction is mutual then it’s tentacles will move in reaction to their gaze, amplifying the language of seduction between the two people.”

The prototype device informs its wearer they are being watched by sending a ripple-like sensation up their back. At this point the wearer can turn their body to determine who in the room is peeping at them. When the device detects they are looking at the person who was looking at them they’ll receive a tap on the chest to confirm. And if they keep looking, Ripple will keep rippling.

You can watch the social-sensing wearable it in action in the below video.

(Via Quartz)

itel Mobile, part of Chinese mobile manufacturer Transmission Holdings, on Monday strengthened its 4G portfolio and launched 4G VoLTE-enabled smartphone Wish A41 for Rs 5,840.

The device features ‘Multiple Account’ apps and ‘Smart Key’.

‘Multiple Account’ allows users to log in with two different accounts on popular social media apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram.

The ‘SmartKey’ feature enables them to conveniently perform functions such as taking screenshots and taking pictures with a single click.

“Wish A41 perfectly exemplifies our long-term vision of making high-speed internet connectivity a tangible reality for all Indians. We are confident that Wish A41 will receive great market traction in the industry,” itel Mobile India CEO Sudhir Kumar said in a statement.

Wish A41 is powered by a 1.3 GHz Quad-core processor with 1GB RAM. It has an internal storage of 8GB, which can be expanded up to 32GB.

The device comes with a 5-inch screen. Wish A41 runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and comes with a 2,400mAh battery. It has a 5MP autofocus rear camera and 2MP front shooter with flash.

The smartphone comes in champagne, calx and rose gold colours.

IANS