Interactive designer Lauren McCarthy used Arduino to make a wooly torture device hat that she calls the Happiness Hat — it has sensors that detect when you're smiling — when you're not smiling, it sticks a metal spike into your head. Here's a short description from her web site:
An enclosed bend sensor attaches to the cheek and measures smile size, a servo motor moves a metal spike into the head inversely proportional to the degree of smile. Through repeated use of this conditioning device you can train your brain to smile all the time.
I'm a contributing editor here at Boing Boing. I also have a blog (TokyoMango), a book (Urawaza), and I freelance for Wired, Make, the NY Times Magazine, PRI's Studio360, etc. I'm @tokyomango on Twitter.
Sooo … we all recognize this from Ren and Stimpy, right?
MattF
Yes, “happy, happy, joy, joy”. Et cetera.
IronEdithKidd
Indescribably evil.
Anonymous
First thought as well. “I’ll teach you to be happy! I’ll teach your grandmother to suck eggs!”
Anonymous
The stabbings will continue until morale improves.
LeFunk
I’d like to leave it on her chair and sulk all day
Anonymous
I can see them implementing these hats on slave wage workers at WalMarts and McDonalds all across the land.
orangebag
very ChindÅgu, ne.
SFedor
Why must the webs always introduce me to smart cuties I’ll never meet…that makes me sad…*ouch*!
IronEdithKidd
You’re not spending enough time at your local high-end yarn shop. http://www.stitchnbitch.org can help you find a learn-to-knit group (of a younger demographic). Learn a useful skill and meet the ladies.
Amsterdaam
I swear, if the Overlords catch wind of this and I am issued one in my Weekly PIA (Personal Items Allowance), I’m not going to be happy with you, Lauren.
Spaceco
I’ll teach you to be happy! I’ll teach your grandmother to suck eggs!
TheMadLibrarian
Did they use something like this to train the creepy grinning guy in the Enzyte commercials?
Anonymous
It’ll just train you to smile in response to pain.
“Why is he smiling like an idiot?”
“Oh, he just had a root canal.”
Zayfod
Happiness is mandatory citizen.
ill lich
You can catch more flies with honey than with a hat that drives a metal spike into your skull. . . so knit me a hat that dispenses honey, post-haste, and I’ll be all smiles, I promise.
This has one major design flaw: A big teethy evil is likely to be interpreted as a smile so trying to retrain, say, American McGee’s Cheshire Cat would be futile.
Micah
Today is a terrible day for Disney theme park employees.
Anonymous
This is like 1/2 Ren & Stimpy HappyHappyJoyJoy, and 1/2 Scott Sigler & the Infected Blue Triangles (something about the smiling brought on by the tentacle of pain that does it)
Kindle