From the super creative mind of edgy designer Lauren McCarthy comes a diabolic new device to make you smile… painfully. This is the Happiness Hat, an excellent Christmas present for the family grouch.
Notice the Pain in the Eyes
The beanie works on mechanics that would make Vlad the Impaler proud. Here’s the description from Lauren McCarthy’s site:
An enclosed bend sensor attaches to the cheek and measures smile size, a servo motor moves a metal spike into the head inversely proportional to the degree of smile.
This essentially means that if you don’t smile, a metal spike is going to stab you on the back of the head, till you do. Which would perhaps explain the pained look in the eyes. It’s a little like taking a picture with Jack the Ripper in a photo booth, or making polite conversation with the ugliest blind date you’ve gotten yourself stuck with.
According to Lauren, the Happiness Hat will train your brain to induce a smile over a period of time. So regardless of how you feel, you’ll be baring your teeth in a psychotic grin.
Watch the video, and watch the eyes.
happiness hat from Lauren McCarthy on Vimeo.
The Happiness Hat has been made using Arduino, which is perhaps the coolest thing I’ve come across in a while. It’s basically an electronic platform developed for creative people. You program a chip using the Arduino lingo (relatively simpler to learn) and you come up with killer stuff. More on Arduino later.
The Happiness Hat is first in a series of Tools for Improved Social Inter-Acting.
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