Mimi switch controls iPod with facials expression

A wink, a smile or a raised eyebrow could soon change the music on your iPod or control electronics
Osaka University inventor Kazuhiro Taniguchi chief researcher at Osaka University's Graduate School of Engineering Science in western Japan has just displayed a new way of controlling your earphones called the "Mimi Switch." The unit's infrared sensors detect the movements your face makes when smiling, winking or changing your facial expression and translates those movement into digital commands. The mechanism also collects facial movement data and can be programmed to initiate certain functions if the wearer is smiling too little or too much, such as modifying your playlist to suit your current mood.

"The machine can be programmed to run with various other facial expressions, such as a wriggle of the nose or a smile."

"It monitors natural movements of the face in everyday life and accumulates data," Taniguchi told AFP in an interview. "If it judges that you aren't smiling enough, it may play a cheerful song."

The Mimi Switch could also store and interpret data and get to know its user,
The device could also serve as a remote control for appliances for physically disabled people, from cameras and computers to air conditioners, or alert medical services if a person has a fit, he said.
The device has yet to be in the commercial market it may take around two three years more
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