This new piece of technology is aimed at helping lift the mood of cancer patients. The idea is simple – it's a mirror that only lets you see your own reflection when you smile. 

The plugin mirror scans your face with its camera and detects whether you're smiling. If you are smiling, congratulations! You have earned the right to see your own face. Once the camera detects your smile, it turns the opaque surface (made with a smart material) reflective, so that it acts like a regular mirror.

The idea behind Smile Mirror is that smiling has been shown to make you happy, decrease your stress levels, and boost your immune system.

"According to the 'facial feedback hypothesis,' our facial expressions affect how we feel," inventor Berk Ilhan wrote online. "Indeed, if we flex our facial muscles to smile, our brains think that something good happened, [which] results in us feeling happiness."

"The patent pending invention will not only make it possible for people to 'gift a smile' to loved ones combatting a difficulty, but also will uplift people in private and public places such as homes, offices, hospital waiting rooms, patient rooms, clinics for adults and kids, dental clinics, subway stations, courts, and many other places where smiling would change the ambience."

So far so good.

There's just one small problem with the idea: Absolutely nobody likes the idea of cancer patients being forced to smile in order to see their own reflection.

The mirror went viral after CNN Tech reported on the idea.

And absolutely nobody seems to be thrilled by the idea of having to force a grin to see their own reflection.

 

 

It's like those terrible men who tell women to smile more whilst they're going about their day, except you paid $2,000 dollars for it and if you don't do what it says you don't get to see your own face.

Also you have cancer and there might be medical reasons that mean you need to inspect your own reflection.

Cancer patients themselves are also not fans of the idea.

The smile mirror is currently available in limited supply for just $2,000-3,000. The product will soon be launched on Kickstarter, CNN Tech reports, and the hope is that the mirror could be brought down to under $500 by being produced in larger quantities.

The inventor hopes the tech will be used everywhere from hospital waiting rooms to peoples' homes.

[H/T: CNN Tech]