Mood Rings supposedly change color depending on the mood of the wearer: black negative; red passionate or angry; yellow inward; green growth; blue relaxed; white frustrated, confused or bored; and so on. Some take them seriously, most view them as amusing diversions.

A biomedical engineering Ph.D. candidate has a decidedly more serious purpose in mind for emotion reading through color changes. Duke University graduate student John Finan would like to improve social interactions for people afflicted with Asberger's Syndrome - a mild form of autism - with a Mood Phone.

He developed his concept in response to Motorola's inaugural MOTOFWRD competition.

The grand prize winner would like to help Asberger sufferers read the tones and mood of daily life by lighting them up in a spectrum of color - from warm reds to cool blues - based on the verbal patterns of everyday speech received through a mobile handset. Users would receive these colors as a visual stimulus to assist in interpreting the mood and inflection communicated through the words and phrases they hear.

In Finn's proposal, the protagonist, Ian, uses a mood sensitive phone to compensate for and treat his condition. While Ian has trouble reading emotions in people, he tests normally when responding to color.

"With color, you can tap into your existing subconscious tools and expand them to the point where you don't need any help. Your tests show that you have you have a normal response to color, “advises a fictional doctor to Ian. “If we can associate these instinctive responses with corresponding emotional cues through the phone, we can try to stimulate a little cross-wiring and start to lessen the deficiency."

Finn entered the competition because he liked the questions Motorola asked with the theme of seamless mobility. "A new toy can entertain for a time but a new tool that really makes you feel closer to home and freer to move can change behavior, and that is how a revolution begins," according to the Dublin, Ireland native.

Motorola particularly liked the way Finn thought outside the box. The company's CTO Padamasree Warrior views the Mood Phone to be "a truly inventive technology solution to a problem most of us wouldn't assume could be answered with a mobile device. If the technology becomes reality, it would make all of our lives easier."

Finn, who beat out 10 finalists and three runner-ups, didn't just receive kudos for his win. There's $10,000, a Bluetooth enabled BMW, and suite of Motorola products as well. In addition, he’ll serve an apprenticeship with CTO Padamasree; focusing on the next generation Motorola mobile technology.