This is one of the coolest apps/tools/interfaces I've run into in a while. It's fun, it's visually engaging, it works, and it's a cool idea. The site basically aggregates emotions and feelings by tracking keywords across a pretty wide field of blogs every ten minutes... and converts that data into reactive, color-coded metrics. It's kind of beautiful in its own very special way, and super effective. (Kiss your graphs and pie charts goodbye.)

(Thanks to New Persuasion's Nellie Lide for pointing me to Jonathan Harris and Sepandar Kamvar's very cool work, by the way.)

Go to We Feel Fine, and launch the app. (Click on the box that says "open we feel fine.") Once the main screen fills up with bouncing bubbles (which you can play with), let your eyes drift to the bottom left, and start exploring. The design of the site, the way data interacts with your mouse and the constant stream of updated content are very nice. Too bad John and Sep haven't yet put together a little 1-inch screen applet (sort of like an RSS mood ring) that gives you constant passive feedback on the emotional state of the blogosphere, and lets you access the latest online emotional data whenever you feel like it. (Hey, don't laugh. Lots of us like to feel sort of connected to the hive mind.)

Anyway. Great idea and design for what could become a fresh and powerful research tool. :)