Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought, "These ol' human faces just aren't expressive enough?" Perhaps what you need is the Qudi Mask 2, a gadget that lets you wear all your emotions on your robot-screen head while, if you wish, hiding your identity behind it.
More a digital face shield, the Qudi Mask 2 lets you shy away from the world around you, while absolutely announcing your presence to every human and startled dog you pass by.
We've been trying to come up with scenarios in daily life where this mask may be an asset, as we're not sure how well received it would be on a first date, in a meeting with your boss to ask for a pay rise, or at a funeral as you hide your tears from fellow mourners.
Still, if you have a terrible poker face, programming in a neutral expression could give you the edge on games night. And we imagine that you'd always have a spare seat next to you on the bus or train. In that sense, it may be the most effective mask in guaranteeing social distancing that we've ever seen.
Sadly, the makers don't recommend wearing this while driving – as it'd sure make being stuck in traffic more entertaining.
The creators of this admittedly creepy robot face had such a good response to their first model a few years back, they've streamlined it and – believe it or not – come up with a much nicer design than its predecessor, which resembled snowboarding goggles sitting atop a bulky nose/mouth shield. Qudi Mask 2 has an oversized, curved eye screen and a slightly less menacing mouth cover.
Like the first model, this one also has a digital mouth that moves when the wearer speaks, and reacts accordingly with certain head movements – nods will display 'yes', a shake shows 'no' and a tilted head will trigger a confused/unsure expression. The digital mouth opens and moves as the wearer speaks, and there are more than 30 different moods that can be displayed through those two big eyes and eyebrows.
It's more customizable too, if that's your thing: an in-app emoticon creator let's you really show your personality. In case just owning this thing wasn't showing it enough. There are hundreds of eye, mouth and brow adjustments to play around with, as well as colors.
There are also three mask designs, with the headset constant but the digital display switching things up, between the basic 'robot', the quirky 'kawaii' model and what we assume is the flirty 'XX'. For an additional fee, you can also add a case around the mask, adding cat ears or Shrek ears.
This mask does look to be an improvement on the first, with a more streamlined and less face-huggy fit, and a battery life of around three hours depending on what sort of LED display you have it set on. It can be recharged on-the-go with a powerbank with a USB-C cable.
With the project's Kickstarter campaign already having met its target, the Super Early and Early Bird purchasers can expect the mask to be shipped from December. We recommend checking the campaign page for shipping costs and regions, however. The mask is currently on sale for US$129, which is 35% off its expected retail price.
Source: Kickstarter
