happiness hat from Lauren McCarthy on Vimeo.

Don’t let the cutesy knit warmth of Lauren McCarthy’s “Happiness Hat” fool you. It is actually “a wearable device that detects if you’re smiling and provides pain feedback if you’re not” and is a dream come true for any dictator or tyrant attempting to enforce a smiling spirit among their subjects. McCarthy explains:

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. Through repeated use of this conditioning device you can train your brain to smile all the time. This is the first in a series of Tools for Improved Social Interacting.

Evil stuff!

[Via]