If feelings had sound, music is what it would be like. Motion control has been passed on to gadgetry, and human expressions to robots, and now it’s time for our facial expressions to decide what music we listen to. Yes, the weird virtual ploy has been brought to near reality by Osaka University researcher Kazuhiro Taniguchi, whose prototype earphone-shaped device helps operate iPods, music players and electronic devices with your facial expressions.
Called the Mini Switch, this hands-free remote control device is a type of earbud of an earphone, which is connected to a micro computer that controls devices. The earbud is embedded with a set of infrared sensors to measure the smallest of movements inside the ear resulting out of various facial expressions.
Different devices can be programmed to run in different patterns with the help of a series of facial expressions. According to the inventor, a quick twitch of the mouth can start a washing machine, and sticking the tongue out can stop the music of a music player, while opening the eyes can help skip a track and a right eye wink takes back to the same tune.
The Mini Switch can be used to store and interpret data, and it also assists in monitoring the user’s natural movements of the face every day, cheering him up with a song if he’s sad.
Via: TheAge
