Never be intimidated by the appearance of others, thanks to this upcoming augmented reality (AR) technology: “negative rose-tinted glasses.”

Originally published 2025-12-29.

Background:

The phrase “seeing things through rose-tinted glasses” refers to the concept of viewing things with artificial optimism. Interestingly, there is no widespread term for the negative version of this concept (i.e., “emerald-tinted glasses” is not a phrase).

The Issue:

It is nearly unavoidable for a person to compare their appearance to that of others. If a person realizes that they are unattractive compared to their compatriots (Figure 1), this can cause a lot of anxiety and self-consciousness about something that is difficult or impossible for them to change.

Fig. 1: This blue stick-figure person (left) feels a sense of inadequacy due to an unavoidable comparison with the fit, attractive, and successful coworker at right.

Proposal:

Thanks to the power of augmented reality (“AR”) glasses, a solution is at hand! Using the power of AI image editing, the glasses could modify the appearance of anyone displayed in the glasses. Now, instead of a person feeling inadequate due to a comparison with some attractive neighbor, they will instead be relieved to not be hideously mutated like their (AI-modified) neighbor (Figure 2).

Fig. 2: The person from Figure 1 is now displayed as a malformed mutant. Success!

Conclusion:

Finally, a useful application of augmented reality has been found!

PROS: Should help the self-confidence of any wearer of these “emerald-tinted glasses.”

CONS: If people know that they’ll be displayed as hideous mutants to everyone else, this may reduce their expenditures on makeup and fashion products, which could negatively impact the economy.