Scientists have developed the exact technology we’ve all been clamoring for: the world’s first anxiety-sensing face sticker. Finally.
Technically, it’s an “e-tattoo,” but don’t worry, it’s not permanent. It’s just incredibly invasive. Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin have unveiled a wireless device that can monitor your mental workload using a few skin-thin electrodes and a forehead-mounted battery pack that screams that making a person’s head look like a QR code.
This e-tattoo removes the need for bulky EEG headgear by using a translucent film stuck to your face that reads brain activity and eye movements. It’s customized to your facial layout, which is helpful for accurate readings while having the added benefit of turning your head into a less attractive mood ring.
E-Tattoos Could One Day Tell Your Boss You’re Burnt Out Before You Do
In tests, six volunteers wore the sticker while doing visual memory tasks that got more difficult as they progressed. As the pressure mounted, the e-tattoo picked up on those cognitive spikes. But it wasn’t just the electrodes doing the heavy lifting.
The real magic came from a machine learning algorithm trained to detect when someone’s brain is too overworked to function. It’s the neurological version of that moment when you reread the same sentence six times and still don’t get it.
While the rest of us can probably assume that the true ultimate goal of this technology is to give our corporate overlords the power to invade our mental health in real time, the stated goal is, as you’d expect, nobler: to help professionals like pilots and surgeons avoid making life-or-death mistakes due to mental fatigue.
The researchers see it as a tool to alert you, or your helpful robot assistant in the form of some kind of monitoring device, when you’re about to short-circuit, so you can offload work or, ideally, take a break, have a smoke. Take a nap before you mindlessly hit the wrong button and cause a major fatigue-induced accident.
While it’s still in the prototype phase and costs under $200, this tech brings us one e-step closer to a world where your forehead tells management how hard you are or aren’t trying on any given hour in any given day.
It’s bad enough that your bosses are breathing down your neck; now they want to peer inside your head.
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