Diet Goggles Help Curb Overeating

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f you've ever tried to diet, you've probably heard the advice to eat off smaller plates so that it feels like you're eating more food. Now, there's another option—diet goggles. Researchers at the University of Tokyo have invented a pair of goggles that help people lose weight (theoretically) by making their food look bigger than it actually is, thus tricking the eater into thinking he or she is eating more.

With the goggles, an Oreo looks like it's the size of a donut, and a donut looks like a small pizza.

The computerized goggles use an algorithm that magnifies the food while leaving the hand that holds the food the same size. Only the food's size is altered.

The goggles look pretty silly, but in experiments, volunteers ate "nearly 10 percent fewer cookies when the cookies appeared to be 50 percent  bigger," according to a report by AFP.

The goggles' function can be reversed, too, for those who are looking to put on a few pounds (aren't you the lucky ones?). When food looked to be just two-thirds of its actual size, volunteers ate 15 percent more.

Michitaka Hirose says he has no plans to start selling the goggles just yet, as they seem a bit impractical for regular, everyday life.

Want to know more? Check out this video, courtesy of Mashable: