THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. **** Saturday/Sunday, March 7 - 8, 2020 |D9
GEAR & GADGETS
other to start a video chat.
Not everyone is sold on the idea
of a virtual predate. “I don’t even
FaceTime my family, so the chances
of me hopping on FaceTime for a
stranger are slim,” said Samantha
Chin, 29, a New York events man-
ager who said she’s been put off by
what she described as overly eager
requests to video call. “While I do
appreciate that it might help with
testing the waters, I’d much rather
meet in person to break the ice.” Not
knowing whether you’ll get along in
advance can also be part of the fun,
said Ms. Chin, while pre-dates can
make romantic connections feel like
business transactions.
So what’s a person wary of a pre-
date interview to do? Julie Spira,
author of “The Perils of Cyber-Dat-
ing,” suggests setting a timer: No
longer than 5 minutes for a video
date, or 20 minutes for a voice call.
“The longer you drag it out, you’ve
basically finished the first date and
asked every question,” she said, cau-
tioning against long-winded deposi-
tions that can ruin a real first date.
Because no matter how strong
someone’s video eye contact or how
charming their voice and smile,
there’s just no substitute for the
electricity of a live connection.HANNA BARCZYK; WALT DISNEY TELEVISION/GETTY (THE DATING GAME)Other apps are taking the video
vibe-check into murkier territory.
Before a match is solidified, Blindlee
automatically launches two inter-
ested parties into 3-minute obscured
video calls that make both partici-
pants look as if they’re behind dis-
torting glass. The theory: Even
blurry face-to-face connections are
better than ones that unfold onlyover text. And while Coffee Meets
Bagel hasn’t yet introduced a video-
calling feature, the company is add-
ing in-app prompts and guides that
encourage calls between users.
Those who rely on apps like Tin-
der or Hinge, which don’t yet have
built-in screening options, are
forced to be a bit more crafty. Face-
Time and Google Duo are always re-
liable options, but they force you to
fork over your phone number, unlike
video apps such as Skype, Zoom or
BlueJeans. Instagram also now al-
lows two people following eachA
NYONE WHO’Stried
online dating has expe-
rienced it: the bubbly
anticipation that arises
from those first flirta-
tious messages—followed by the
quick deflation of meeting your
match in person. It’s tough to set re-
alistic expectations when we create
elaborate fantasies around total
strangers’ dating profiles and their
best possible photos (circa 2009).
Here’s good news for the chroni-
cally dismayed. To draw in users,
online dating platforms are adding
screening options inside their apps.
Bumble, Grindr, Match and Badoo
have all launched phone- and video-
calling features so users can test
their chemistry with matches and
dismiss potential catfish (those pre-
tending to be someone they’re not)
without sharing their digits. Such
vibe-checks allow users to “date”
from the safety and security of
their couches, explained Priti Joshi,
Bumble’s vice president of strategy.
By letting you see how your
matches stack up against their on-
line personas, these tools can save
you time, money, effort and, in
some cases, eyeliner, yielding a
higher number of meaningful con-
nections. At least, that’s the theory.
“I think of it as a prerequisite to
meeting up,” said Kiedra Tyson, 34,
a Miami publicist who started cull-
ing matches four years ago using
Apple’s FaceTime after one too
many banter-filled text conversa-
tions that fell flat offline. She uses
video chats to evaluate facial ex-
pressions, engagement level and, if
necessary, cut bait, avoiding the
dreaded five-seconds-in realization
that there’s no spark when meeting
face to face. “There have been peo-
ple where I’m like, ‘I’m never going
to talk to you again,’” she said of
video-chat misfires.
Washington, D.C., communica-
tions consultant Carlos Zavala, 24,
has relied on Bumble’s and Grindr’s
video features(available with pre-
mium, from $5, grindr.com)to facili-
tate faster connections. “I need to
know: Are you a human functioning
adult? Are you awkward?” he said.Psychologist and author Carla
Marie Manly thinks more of us
should be following Ms. Tyson’s and
Mr. Zavala’s lead. She hears a lot of
dating dissatisfaction from the more
than 300 women she hosts at her
weekly support group in Sonoma
County, Calif. The largest issues, Ms.
Manly said, stem from the incom-
plete picture written messages
yield. You can’t, for instance, tell
from coy texts that someone is
prone to constantly interrupting
you, the sort of off-putting quirk
that screening calls can reveal.BYRACHELWOLFESuch vibe-checks let users ‘date’ from the safety
and security of their couches, saving them time,
money, effort and, in some cases, eyeliner.F. MARTIN RAMIN/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Can these bulbs reset your sleep cycle and keep you alert at work?
Let There Be Better Light
The glow
from ‘Charge
Up’ bulbs is
meant to
help you stay
focused
throughout
your day.‘Get in Sync’
bulbs let you
control the
percentage of
blue light you
let in.‘Wind Down’
bulbs are
crafted to
help you relax
after a long
day.‘The Dating Game’
Back when finding
love on TV seemed
novel, “The Dating
Game” had women
question hidden
bachelors to pick
which might take
her out. Pity the
woman who passed
up a young Burt
Reynolds in 1967.‘The Amazing
Spider-Man’Peter
Parker fell hard for
Mary Jane Watson
thanks to a blind
datesetupbyhis
auntina1966is-
sue. The final panel
featuring her confi-
dent opening line—
“Face it, Tiger...You
just hit the jack-
pot!”—was voted as
Marvel’s most
iconic of all-time by
readers of Comic
Book Resources.‘When Harry Met
Sally’The 1989 film’s
titular characters are
left stranded when, af-
ter setting each other
up on blind dates with
their respective best
friends, their two eas-
ily distracted pals in-
stead dash off to-
gether in a taxi.‘Seinfeld’ In season 3’s
“The Fix-Up” Elaine
uses coded language
to describe George to
a potential blind date.
His face has character.He’snotfat,he’spow-
erful! And he’s “just
kindalosing his hair.”Mystery DateThis
1960s-era board game,
which sets players up
on fantasy outings
with enigmatic hunks,
was upgraded with an
“electronic talking
phone” in 1999 that
lets you screen dates.
You might recognize
“Tyler” on the game’s
box as future Captain
America Chris Evans.
—Matthew KitchenFINGERS CROSSED/FAMOUS BLIND DATES IN POP CULTURE
A ‘Dating Game’ contestant selects her suitor.A RAW, COLD-PRESSED JUICEcan easily set
you back $12. A queen-size organic mattress
from Avocado costs $1,399. If we’re willing to
pay those prices in the name of wellness,
why not $8 for lightbulbs that can potentially
improve our sleep cycles, increase focus and
boost our moods? Such innovative illumina-
tion hasn’t quite caught on yet.
While standard, often pricey LEDs are
about five times more efficient and produce a
much brighter light than grandmother’s old
incandescents, they don’t give our skin the
same flattering glow as amber bulbs and con-
tinually expose us to blue light, the unhealthy
hue that pours out of our smart devices and
keeps us awake at night. “Artificial light is
often demonized for ruining our sleep and
circadian rhythms,” said Manuel Spitschan, a
neuroscientist at the University of Oxford.
But lighting companies—like the pioneer-
ing Brilli, a Boston-based startup—have intro-
duced a new approach: LEDs designed to
mimic the different stages of the sun’s natural
glow. Brilli’s bulbs recreate varied
levels of sunlight associated with
specific times—stirring blues in
the morning and daytime to help
us feel more or less alert at work,
relaxing ambers as we recline at
night—creating artificial lumines-
cence that’s as natural as possible.
The brand has released three
light spectrums: Its daylight
“Charge Up” bulbs, meant for
spots like bathroom vanities and
home offices, incorporate more
blue light to keep you awake and
attentive. The “Wind Down” bulbs,for spots where you relax in the evening, fea-
ture lower blue light content and signal to
your body that it’s time to prepare for sleep
(from $16 for a two-pack, bebrilli.com). Brilli’s
“Get In Sync” fixture collection(from $30)
gives you the benefit of both. It includes over-
head options that you can dim and adjust—
letting you customize the percentage of blue
light the bulbs emit throughout the day.
Meanwhile, the light temperature of
Philips’s SceneSwitch LEDs can also be ad-
justed depending on time of day or just your
mood. Signify, makers of the innovative bulbs,
tests each one for factors including flickering
and strobe, glare, color rendering and noise in
an aim to ease eye strain and save your pupils
from pain(from $8, homedepot.com).
But even though screwing in a bulb is as
easy as dad jokes attest, do these new designs
actually bridge the gap between sunlight and
the ill effects of most artificial light?
Dr. Christine Blume, sleep scientist at the
Centre for Chronobiology in Basel, Switzer-
land, said they can make a differ-
ence if you spend almost no time
outside and your rooms are dark or
dimly lit. If your home is blessed
with large windows that let in am-
ple daylight, “there is less room for
improvement.” She added that the
claims manufacturers make to ad-
vertise products “are almost never
supported by scientific evidence.”
So it seems that with these bulbs, at
best you’ll be supporting your
body’s natural circadian rhythm. At
worst, at least you’ll have a nicely lit
home.—Lauren SteeleA NICE,
HEALTHY GLOW
The different
hues of Brilli’s
bulbs (left) aim
to recreate the
sun’s light at
different times of
day, helping reset
your circadian
rhythms.From
$16 for two pack,
bebrilli.comDating apps are adding video chat to let you screen suitors—but is this new layer killing the chemistry?
Reach Out and Vet Someone