Commercial trials are under way on Affectiva's skin-conductance sensors, wristwatch-size devices that detect emotional engagement by measuring tiny changes in sweat-gland activity.
Kalydeco works by correcting the protein that is defective in cystic fibrosis, called the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, which helps move salt ions across cells.
Picard and her colleague Rana el Kaliouby are commercializing these technologies through a company called Affectiva, which might revolutionize market research by unobtrusively measuring facial expressions, skin conductance and heart rate in subjects responding to new products.