The Cover That Judges You

By Thijs Biersteker

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“The Cover That Judges You” is a prototype for the 2014 Annual of the Art Directors’ Club Netherlands, awarded as the most creative work in advertising and design, hand- picked from twelve invited makers and craftsmen from the worlds of design, technology and art… 

Ever judged a book by its cover? Thijs Biersteker of Amsterdam experience design company, Moore in collaboration with thispagecannotbefound.com has reversed the well-known idiom - designing a sleeve that scans your face and won't open unless approached without prejudice. 

The aim was to create a book cover that is human and approachable-hi-tech - a cover that judges you! 

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How the book works:

When you approach this Cover That Judges You, an integrated camera and facial-recognition technology scans your face for any signs of “judgment”. If you are overexcited or if your face shows skeptical emotions, the book cover will stay locked. But if your expressions are neutral, the system will send an audio-pulse to the Arduino micro-controller and the metal lock on the book will unlock itself. You can then browse through the book.

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The technology

A camera is positioned at the top of the cover, above a screen that feeds back the image, when it detects a face in close proximity. Using Nxt,  it detects abstracted facial features that form the shape of the screen and allow the prospective user to line up their eyes, nose and mouth in the optimum positions. Over-expressive features will turn the feedback screen ‘red’. But once the correct alignment is obtained, the screen turns ‘green’ and a signal is sent to the Arduino board that opens the chunky metal lock.

 

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“We've used and written very complex algorithms to scan the users face and expression. Based on many parameters, we are able to determine if someone is sad or happy or is neutral,” informs Jordi Buskermolen, Technical Director at thispagecannotbefound.com. As Thijs Biersteker concludes, “Judgment should never hinder the relentless excitement of seeing and experiencing things. We often worry about skepticism and judgment getting in the way of amazement and miss out on a lot in life!"