- Are you lookin' at me? (Image: University of Tsukuba)
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Stuck in a boring meeting? Then you need goggles that can make you look wide-eyed and attentive, even if you are fast asleep.
The goggles, called AgencyGlass, are the handiwork of engineer Hirotaka Osawa at Tsukuba University in Japan. He invents new ways for people to interact with machines, robots and computers. His aim this time is to engineer an emotional prop that helps people get through the duller parts of their day, such as when co-workers they would rather not talk to insist on chatting at length.
"Human workers are forced to control their emotions during work time," Osawa complained at the human-robot interaction conference at Bielefeld University in Germany on 3 March. "Technology can free humans from such emotional restrictions."
His answer is a pair of goggles – which he regards as a robot because they sense your actions and act on your behalf – that sits on the bridge of your nose to disguise how you feel when, say, you are collared by people you would rather not engage with.
The AgencyGlass goggles contain cellphone-style motion sensors and twin OLED screens that display animated eyes. When you nod your head, for instance, the eyes blink. When you shake your head the eyes blink a few times. If your head drops forward or leans backward the eyes will move to maintain gaze direction at your conversation partner. And, spookily, the eyes also follow the motion of the person you are talking to.
The glasses are admittedly a clunky experiment, and the effect they create is equal parts unnerving and comical. But Osawa is pleased with his results so far: "They reduce the cognitive load imposed on us by social manners," he insists. Watch our video and judge for yourself.