Rationalizer

Philips and ABN AMRO joined forces in the development of Rationalizer, a product concept which aims to support serious home investors who trade online. Investors are typically driven by two emotions, fear and greed, which can compromise their ability to take an objective, factual stance. Rationalizer acts as a kind of ‘emotion mirror’ in which the user sees the intensity of his feelings reflected in the form of dynamic lighting patterns. An intense reflection alerts the user when it may be wise to take a time-out, wind down and re-consider his actions, enabling him to take financial decisions which are less emotionally charged and more rationally founded.

Rationalizer consists of two components: the EmoBracelet and the EmoBowl. The EmoBracelet measures the intensity of the user’s emotion, also known as the arousal level, through a galvanic skin response sensor. This arousal level is rendered as a dynamic light pattern on either the EmoBracelet itself or on the EmoBowl. The higher the user’s arousal level, the more intense the dynamic light pattern becomes: the number of graphic elements in the pattern increases, their speed increases and—in the case of the EmoBowl—their colour shifts from a soft yellow via orange to a deep red.