The trio- Science, movies and technology- directly and/or indirectly affects our lives in so many ways that we might not even be
able to point out all of them. One might question what cinema has to do with science and technology? The answer is simple;
cinema brings innovation and creativity. Science fiction movies inspire us to build the ‘fantasy’ gadgets. The recent superhero
movies have gained so much appreciation because of the fact that it all seems real. Whether it’s the Christopher Nolan’s Dark
Knight Trilogy or the famous Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man. These movies have been able capture such huge audience and fan base
because of the way technology has been portrayed. Rather keeping their gadgets a big secret we see the movie explaining how
they work and what their purpose is. This has brought all superhero movies to a different new level. We have seen replica of and
today we are looking at a mask that is somewhat similar to Iron Man’s head gear. It’s uses are immense and the possibilities are
endless, and just like the Liberator, this mask has been printed using a 3D printer and its purpose is to enhance your human
senses and abilities.
The mask has two fold purposes; improving sight and sharpening hearing abilities. The invention comes from Royal College of
Arts in London by a small team of students. Both mask types are at prototype-stage. The first one is designed to enclose one’s
ears, mouth and nose. By using a directional microphone, the wearer has the ability to target on an isolated sound even in a noisy
environment. The purpose is for the wearer to target a certain person in the crowd and listen to him or her without the surrounding
noise making any interruptions. The second prototype is designed for one’s eyes. A camera which is the part of mask captures
the video, sends it to a computer which adds effects to it and re-sends the video for the mask wearer, all done in real time. The
effects are somewhat similar to long exposure photography.
The project is known as project Eidos and team members include; Tim Bouckley, Millie Clive-Smith, Mi Eun Kim and Yuta
Sugawara. The team sees a whole new future for their invention and they see a lot of application of this unique concept to analyze
movement and sounds during games. Another use of this project is to be able to listen to a performer in a concert. ‘We are used
to controlling the world around us to find the settings that suit us best. But while technology advances to aid this, our physical
bodies remain the same. What if we had the same control over our senses? If we could adjust them in real time, what
experiences would this make possible,’ this is what the team has to say about their Project Eidos.
Such wearable tech is becoming the talk of the town and there are a lot of possibilities for this idea and unique applications of
these gadgets.