Cover image via @willknight
On-demand service providers like kaodim and GoGet have made paying strangers to help you run errands increasingly easy. Now the Japanese are taking things one step further – by having a surrogate to act as your stand-in for events and meetings.
Image via YouTube
Japanese researcher Jun Rekimoto introduced the technology called "ChameleonMask" at MIT Tech Review's EmTech conference in Asia recently, Vice reports.
Here's how the "human uber" works: a surrogate person straps an iPad-like screen to their face to fill in for you. The screen will then show your face and its speakers will project your voice.
Essentially, you tell the surrogate user where to look, point, and touch. It also allows you to experience the environment as if you were there… sort of.
The technology is only limited to sight and sound for now.
The new technology caught the Internet's attention after MIT Tech Review writer Will Knight shared pictures of the "human uber" in a tweet
Rekimoto, who has ties with Sony, called the technology "surprisingly natural".
Sure.
