OK, first of all, the article title says "emotion-sensing furniture," and there is also this:
quote:
The interactive set, which could be in shops, airports, museums, or bars within a year or two, uses technology to extend people's emotional state into a room that may be devoid of ancient ideas.
But if you read the rest of the article you find that the furniture actually responds to pressure (not emotion) and changes color to match the color of objects placed on a scanning table.
Secondly, this:
quote:
Ancient Japanese people believed that gods lived in all things, whether animate or inanimate. Talking to a wall was not an idle act, but actually a kind of soul-searching.
...is called Shinto, and it is still practiced by ancient Japanese people today. 
Extremely crappy journalism, but very interesting technology.

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Suho: www.liminality.org | Cell 270 | Sig Rotator | the Fellowship of Sup