Viraldice: Human Uber Is Here — and It Doesn’t Require You to Do a Thing

new and experimental concept referred to as the "human uber" gives new meaning to the phrase 'living vicariously through someone else.' Japanese researchers have developed a type of screen which, when strapped to a person's head, essentially allows them to act as someone else's body. The technology is called ChameleonMask; through it, users can more or less FaceTime through life. The 'surrogate' wearing a screen goes out into the world and the user, watching through a camera, remains behind.

 

The ChameleonMask’s website suggests people such surrogates for long-distance business trips, or even cosplaying purposes.

When MIT Tech Review writer Will Knight tweeted about the ChameleonMask, the internet began to take notice of this bizarre creation.

Knight tweeted a photo of the screen in use. In the same tweet, he also shared that the screen’s inventor, Jin Rekimoto, called the technology “surprisingly natural.”

Rekimoto himself then tweeted out a link to the project’s site, while also acknowledging the polarizing nature of the technology.

Here's a video demonstration of the Human Uber:

The “human uber” website also includes this quick video with visual examples of the tech. “We hypothesize physical and social telepresence can be embodied by a surrogate human who imitates the remote user,” the video explains.

The technology was first introduced at the EmTech Asia conference.