Using high-tech to help break ice

What: Interrelativity (www.interrelativity.com)

Who: Joe McCarthy, a veteran of Accenture Technology Labs and Intel Research Seattle, founded the company last year to continue a project he had begun at Intel.

The goal: "To try to make the dream a reality of using technology to help people relate to each other," McCarthy said. He is building a team and looking for angel investors.

How it works: Interrelativity blends hardware and software in a "proactive" display. At business conferences, singles events and other gatherings, participants wear a special RFID-enabled tag, and information about them is displayed on a large screen when they walk near it, stimulating introductions and conversation. The technology can be used to help shy people break the ice. Participants first create a Web-based profile with photos and information about themselves. The information is linked with a wearable object, such as an RFID tag, which communicates wirelessly when participants approach the display screen.

One application: Ticket2Talk displays a person's name and photo with an image that represents his interest, such as a scuba diver, rock climber or piece of art. Seeing those images, strangers find common hobbies or something to talk about.

Why we need it: More people seem to be feeling shy. According to surveys by Psychology Today, 48 percent of respondents are shy today, compared with 40 percent 10 years ago. Technology plays a role by allowing people to isolate themselves behind the virtual walls of computers and mobile phones. "If I have a laptop open in a cafe, I'm less approachable than if I had a book or a newspaper open," McCarthy said. "I'm not trying to stop that practice. I'm just trying to counterbalance it."

McCarthy's own Ticket2Talk: It's a bright-orange Ultimate Frisbee disc that reads "Business Is Good." "I've never felt more alive than doing this work," he said. "There's no distinction between my personal passion and my professional life."

— Kristi Heim