Experience weight loss through rose-coloured goggles

Goggles that trick the wearer into thinking the plain snack in their hand is a chocolate biscuit – or that make biscuits appear larger – have been unveiled, offering hope to weak-willed dieters.

University of Tokyo researchers use tech wizardry and augmented reality in devices that fool the senses to make users feel satisfied with smaller – or less appealing – treats.

Goggle-mounted cameras send images to a computer that magnifies the apparent size of a cookie, which the wearer is holding, while keeping their hands the same size.

In experiments, volunteers consumed 10% less when the biscuits they were eating appeared 50% bigger. They ate 15% more when cookies were manipulated to look smaller than their real size.

Professor Michitaka Hirose was interested in how computers can be used to trick the human mind.

“How to fool various senses or how to build on them using computers is very important in the study of virtual reality,” Hirose says.

Users can set the device to their favourite flavor, with Hirose saying experiments have fooled 80% of subjects.

The team has no plans yet to commercialise the invention, but wants to investigate whether people wanting to lose weight can use the device.

Why not draw inspiration from this and develop your own weight loss concept?