THEN TURNS AROUND TO AGAIN FACE THE EARRING. SHE PICKS IT UP. JESSICA'S HANDS ARE IN THE BIN. SHE'S SEARCHING THROUGH THE TRASH. SAMANTHA HOLDS UP THE RING AND STROLLS OVER TO HER.
SAMANTHA
Oh Jess. I found this on the floor before. I almost forgot.
JESSICA LOOKS UP. A SMILE SPREADS ACROSS HER FACE.
JESSICA
Oh my god! Thanks Sam!
SAMANTHA
Be careful, ay? It sure is pretty.
SAMANTHA HANDS THE EARRING TO JESSICA.
JESSICA I know. It's made of . . .
MATT PICKS UP THE GOLD-COLORED EARRING. HE STUDIES IT. ANOTHER PICTURE IS TAKEN - THIS ONE OF MATT. SAMANTHA TAKES THE EARRING OUT OF MATT'S FINGERS.
SAMANTHA
How do you like it? Think it will suit you?
MATT
Me?
SAMANTHA
It's yours if you want it. But you've gotta be very careful. Believe it or not this thing's a camera too. It's voice activated. And activated by motion [3.]. Find yourself caught in a conversation and this will start taking pictures of your field of vision. No lie. Then we can analyze the photos and decide how to improve them, and hence your body language. If you're cool with it that is. It's not that your body language is poor, it's just that communicating with others is an art. This helps us master that art. I wear one every now and then. So does Clarissa.
MATT
Wow!
HE SCRUTINIZES THE EARRING.
MATT
You can't be serious.
SAMANTHA
Come over tonight. I'll show you the photos they take. I'm serious. And you need to get an ear pierced.
MATT
Yeah.
MATT NODS.
MATT
I think I'd like that. But there's no way this is a camera. It's way too small.
SAMANTHA
You'll see. This is state-of-the-art. And it also records speech so that we can study it to determine how persuasive it is, or how much it reflects your true feelings [4.]. But this is nothing compared to the glasses Clarissa was just given; they sense peoples' body temperature, heart rate [5.], facial emotions [6.], and they're even connected to an earpiece that relays to you parts of past conversations you've had with the person you're looking at [7.].
MATT SHAKES HIS HEAD IN DISBELIEF.
SAMANTHA
You're gonna love 'em. So . . .
SAMANTHA HOLDS UP THE EARRING ONCE MORE.
SAMANTHA
Better than gold?
MATT SMILES.
MATT
Samantha, anything from you is better than gold. And you say this can help me pick up?
HE TAKES THE 'RING.
MATT
Thanks so much.
SAMANTHA
We don't need a sea to swim. Interactions, conversations, they can make you feel weightless all on their own.
MATT LOWERS HIS VOICE.
MATT
But what I want more than anything right now is to kiss you.
SAMANTHA
Shhhh. Later. Now I think you're meant to be in dish.
DYLAN
Matt; you gonna stack or chat?
MATT SMILES. HE TURNS TO FACE DISH.
MATT
Whoa! What a pile! Sometimes I don't even know why we use plates when our hands are just fine.
DYLAN
Hey. This is a high class restaurant.
DYLAN SMILES.
DYLAN
No. I can't say that and keep a straight face.
MATT
But it doesn't matter how expensive or posh the food is; you can eat anything with your hands.
DYLAN
Then we'd be cleaning up mess at front of house rather than in dish.
MATT NODS.
MATT
Might be more fun. More time to talk . . . and party . . .
DYLAN
Matt.
MATT
Yeah.
DYLAN
Stack the damn plates!
MATT SMILES AND PICKS UP A PILE.
******
- Love Don't Cost A Thing - Jennifer Lopez (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0EvXnRxl0w)
- Why Don't You And I - Santana and Chad Kroeger (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooA1LwYLaSE&feature=fvwrel)
- How Do I Say - Usher (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzePxnS5nlU)
- Why Don't You And I - Santana and Alex Band (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrQAzNY9_wA&feature=related)
- Red Light Green Light - Limp Bizkit and Snoop Dogg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McZOy5AMMeU) ["You know I'm down"]
- Press It Up - Sean Paul (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YErOUnk8TE)
- Ayo Technology - 50 Cent, Justin Timberlake and Timberland (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE9IchvpOPk&ob=av2e)
[2.] Aldhous, P. (2011). [There are many things more beautiful than gold. It's only a useless inanimate object]. The deep sea gold rush. New Scientist, 211 (2819), 6-9.
[1.] Aron, J. (2011). Robo-snapper learns how to take the perfect photo. New Scientist, 211 (2819), 21.
[3.] Stix, G. (2012). Photographic memory. Scientific American, 306 (1), 11.
[6.] Picard, R. [Glasses designer], el Kaliouby, R. [Glasses designer], & Adee, S. [Writer of article] (2011). Your seventh sense. New Scientist, 211 (2819), 32-36.
[4.] Olguin-Olguin, D., & Pentland, A. (2010). ["Our research group has developed several tools for analyzing voice patterns and quantifying social context in human interaction, as well as several socially aware platforms that objectively measure different aspects of social context, including non-linguistic social signals measured by a person’s tone of voice, movements or gestures."]. Sensor-based organisational design and engineering. International Journal of Organisational Design and Engineering, 1 (1/2), 69-97. doi: 10.1504/IJODE.2010.035187 Retrieved February 15, 2012 from http://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalID=344&year=2010&vol=1&issue=1/2
[5.] Poh, M-Z., McDuff, D. J., & Picard, R. W. (2010). [Abstract]. Non-contact, automated cardiac pulse measurements using video imaging and blind source separation. Optics Express, 18, 10762. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.18.010762 Retrieved February 15, 2012 from http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/66243