Digital 'counselor' minds your meds

Prototypes
I don't know why people ignore doctors' orders, but it happens all the time. Now, a hand-held digital companion can get in your face when you are thinking of skipping your pills.

Only 50 percent of medicines are taken as directed, says Northeastern University computer and information science professor Timothy Bickmore. He hopes his virtual "relational agent," which displays the animated face of a counselor on a desktop or PDA, can challenge the foolish idea that you'll be just fine without your heart medicine.

"High blood pressure is asymptomatic," he says. Patients "don't feel any better or worse when they take their medicines. And that can be one reason they stop taking them."

Patients on psychiatric drugs can also be a challenge for their doctors. Bickmore is studying the relational agent's effectiveness at keeping schizophrenics on their meds.

The relational agent is not a pager that beeps when it's time take your pills. Rather, it engages you in a conversation. It might ask you if you've been finding enough time "to relax and cut loose." It may encourage you not only to take your meds, but to exercise, or cut out trans fats.

The PDA agent "talks" to you via a text balloon, to help ensure your privacy in public places. (You may not want your hand-held blurting out, "Did you take your Zoloft today?") The desktop version has a synthesized voice.

Bickmore is trying to replicate some of the "therapeutic alliance" between patients and doctors and counselors. The relational agent, he says, "is all about reach and availability."

Smart Watches

Device measures how many seconds you're airborne

I don't spend much time in the air without a seat under me. But if you are a pole-vaulter or a parkour traceur or traceuse who leaps from rooftops, you may want to bring along HangTimer.

It's a stopwatch with a carabineer clip, and an accelerometer that records your self-propelled flight time.

HangTimer (it costs about $100 at hangtimer.com) does an excellent job of recording the fractions of a second my daughter is in the air while jumping in place.

It also tells the temperature, time, and date, if you are interested.

HangTimer works best when you clip it to your belt loop, near your waist. It appears to be sturdily constructed -- two big screws hold the watch's two AAA batteries in place.

DropZone Corp., which makes HangTimer, says the watch is shockproof and water-resistant.

From the PC to the TV

Running out of HDMI ports? Here's a set-top switcher made for Apple TV

You may be jazzed up about Apple TV, which connects your iTunes library to your television, but be sure to check the HDMI ports on your set when you order. You may find that your cable box and DVD player, or your VCR and PS3, have used up all those connections.

That's where XtremeMac comes in.

This device has a slick 4-to-1 HDMI switcher for Apple TV and other set-up devices. If your boob tube has two HDMI ports, the XtremeMac extends that to five. The switcher has an LED on the front, similar to an Ethernet router, which indicates which device you are currently connected to.

XtremeMac, which makes iPod accessories, fine-tunes its hardware to the Apple aesthetic. The switcher has the dimensions of the Apple box, so you can stack the two neatly on your TV stand. You can switch between devices with the included XtremeMac IR remote control, your own universal remote, or a button on the front of the switcher.

The company also makes HDMI cables.

XtremeMac plans to release its switcher at the end of April. You can preorder the device (about $100) at XtremeMac.com.