You like smiles, unicorns, and video games, right?

Or even just two out of three? Well, then…

From livescience.com:

If smiling for a video game could be, by itself, enough to make some people happy, then “Unicorb” — a video game controlled by a player’s facial muscles — should be regarded as something akin to a cyber fountain of joy.

…

Credit: Tiffany M. Youngquist, Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, University of Washington

During a game, Thalia’s EMG electrodes must be positioned on specific muscles located around each player’s mouth, eyes, and other facial areas that move in characteristic ways when people express happiness or surprise. The electrodes capture the muscle player’s signaling, which is then amplified and interpreted to control the height and speed of Unicorb’s flying unicorn.

“The control signals are designed so you have to use your smiling muscles and surprise muscles,” said Youngquist. “The idea is that through facial feedback, we can kind of enforce a state of happiness or positivity in the user.”

My upcoming picture book Attack! Boss! Cheat Code! A Gamer’s Alphabet (to be published this fall by POW!, with illustrations by Joey Spiotto) does refer to various types of game controllers — but, I must admit, facial electrodes are not among them.

Better start working on a sequel…