Coffee, Tea or Mind-Reading Mood Blanket?

If British Airways could wire up its passengers to in-flight lie detectors, would it? Before this weekend, the idea might have sounded preposterous. But that was before the airline rolled out a video promoting what it calls its “Happiness Blanket.”

The idea is simple and straight out of 1984. Upon boarding, passengers are given a headset that “measures the electrical fluctuations of the neurons in the brain” and then transmits that data to a wool blanket threaded by fiber optics that change colors with a passenger’s measured mood. If you feel a sense of well-being (due to, say, to a business class seat and a cocktail), the blanket turns blue. If, however, you feel stressed (perhaps because of a chatty seatmate), the blanket turns red.