We all know about those slightly wacky, not-at-all-practical inventions that have made Japan famous (infamous?), and Japanese scientist Hirotaka Osawa seems to have built his new invention along those lines. Osawa has just made public what he calls “AgencyGlass,” a pair of digital eyes that one wears like spectacles to be able to express a whole range of emotions – from delight and anger, or even boredom.
“I wanted to build eyewear capable of carrying out social behaviors for humans,” Osawa said. AgencyGlass is pretty much like wearing two miniature TV screens mounted on spectacle frames. As you might have already guessed, the two screens display the eyes of the user conveying what sort of emotion was pre-chosen. In concept, the system is set to cut down on the user’s emotional output, comparable to a mechanical reducing the human output for physical labor. AgencyGlass does this by carrying out the user’s eye movements for them. There are two organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens – these connected to motion sensors and an external camera – show a pair of eyeballs that can appear to be making eye contact while the wearer is looking somewhere else entirely. Still not convinced? Well, you are not alone.
But Osawa – hailing from the renowned Tsukuba University – is quite convinced that his invention has merit. He says that AgencyGlass may be usable by flight attendants who are dealing with irritating passengers, or even teachers who want to project an image of kindness towards shy students. Of course, the user has to choose the specific emotion they want to convey in advance before putting the glasses on. “As the service sector grows and becomes more sophisticated, it becomes increasingly important that we behave by showing understanding to others,” Osawa said. “That requires us to behave differently from our true feelings.” The glasses weigh around 100 grams with a battery that lasts roughly an hour. Osawa said his prototype of AgencyGlass cost just over 30,000 yen (290) to make. Would you buy a pair?
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