A Japan-based research team has brought augmented reality to new heights. Soon, devices like the proposed Google Glass may not only be a means of communication and navigation, but even an effective tool for diet and weight loss.
The Hirose Tanikawa Group from the University of Tokyo has developed a program that uses augmented reality goggles to alter the size of food, thereby altering the eater’s perception of food portions. The basic idea is that visually, if the eyes see a large piece of food, they can tell the stomach that it has eaten enough. In the end, you feel you have eaten a lot, when in fact your food intake has not increased. Imagine that as a high-tech diet pill to help you slim down quickly!
Currently undergoing development, the augmented reality goggles works with a blue screen and specialized software. How does it work? The goggles take a special photo of your hand as you hold a piece of food, say for example, a cookie. Now the software alters the actual size of the cookie, enlarging it by several percent, while your hands remain the same size. This creates the illusion that the food is bigger.
The results are in! According to the Tokyo researchers, when the food image is enlarged by 150%, the food intake of test subjects decreases by 10%. On the other hand, if the food image is shrunk by about 66% the original size, the test subjects tend to eat more by 15%.
Eventually, when the technology has been fine-tuned, the team expects the goggles to be more compact, and the blue screen removed, so that the system can work at home, on any type of plate or dining table.
Perhaps, the augmented reality Google Glass can help us resist eating too much of these sweet treats: Hello Kitty Avengers cupcakes and Slice of Earth cake.
Via: The Daily Mail
