This seems like a 2.0 with week with MC Hammer 2.0 news yesterday and now that famous paper clip in Windows has gone 2.0 as well. You know what I mean don't you? When you are starting a Microsoft Word document with Dear First Name, that paper clip appears and starts asking questions.

Most people I know lump the paper clip in the same category usually reserved for people they hate. There is just something so annoying about these characters. But perhaps the people I know I know are in the minority.

To make a meaningful improvement over paper clip 1.0 the company would have to monitor blood pressure, brain signals and even galvanic skin response used in lie detector tests. These signals could then be combined to monitor workgroups and subsequently offer help when one or more people in the group is frustrated or having problems.

This may seemed far fetched but it is exactly what has been applied for by Microsoft in a recent patent application according to The Register.

I would imagine IP communications could be brought into this sort of environment as monitoring stress in a person's voice is a technology already being used in call centers.