Special glasses trick dieters into thinking they’re full

A pair of special glasses that distort your perception of objects could soon be used to trick dieters into thinking they’ve eaten much more than they really have.

A team of scientists at Tokyo University are currently working on a pair of special glasses that makes objects look up to 50% bigger than they actually are. It sounds like a strange invention, but the scientists are convinced the glasses could well help dieters eat less food by tricking them into thinking they’ve eaten much more than they really have.

The video headset processes the image that you see in front of you and manages to make the objects (or food) in front of you look considerably bigger while keeping your hands and surroundings the same.

In the original studies of whether the gadget is just a gimmick or actually works, the scientists found that people tend to eat much less the bigger the food looked to them. Of course the glasses will need to be tested on a much larger focus group before they’re sold along with diet snacks in Boots, but the idea certainly has potential.

We’re not sure tricking people is really the way forward, but if you’ve tried everything else and it doesn’t seem to be working then maybe there’s no harm in lying to your eyes and brain just a little bit.

[Via The Verge Via Yomiuri]