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Hi tech takes boredom out of dating

Looking for a soul mate or a business partner, but fed up with going to parties and conventions where you waste your time talking to strangers who induce no excitement, only yawns? The answer: intelligent tags.

These are wearable computers which compare your personal data with those of others around you, tell you who would make an interesting match, advise you where that individual is located and whether he or she is available for a chat or just wants to swap contact details.

Device worn round the neck

Prototypes of the first tag were tested at a technology convention in New England last month, in which participants wore a small device, about the size of an electronic personal assistant, around their necks, New Scientist reports.

The so-called nTags communicated to each other by infrared link, comparing employment history, professional interests and personal hobbies, and alerted their wearer whenever a good match was close by. The data was supplied earlier to organisers of the event.

Most of the 488 delegates were impressed with the device, swapping nearly 4000 "visual business cards" during the event, although they also complained about the weight of the nTag and the constant interruptions it made, and there was also concern about data privacy, New Scientist says.

The device is made by a New York company, nTag Interactive.

Ultimate "icebreaker"

It hopes to corner a big potential market at business events and cocktail parties where there is no host to put good potential matches together, and where people do not want to waste their time on "icebreaker" chat and just want to cut to the chase.

A rival, though, is in the works at the famous Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Called MIThril, it will use sensors to show where a good match is located in the building, whether that individual is walking or standing still, whether he or she is in conversation or not — and identify the person they are talking to.

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IAfrica South African News, South Africa