KALI Lens

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Inspiration

In Ted Chiang’s short story Stories of Your Life and Others, particularly the story Liking What You See: A Documentary, the concept of calliagnosia is introduced as a neurological configuration that prevents the brain from perceiving facial attractiveness. In the story, researchers develop a technology called neurostat that blocks the brain circuitry responsible for evaluating beauty in faces. By removing the automatic judgment of attractiveness, the technology challenges a society heavily influenced by advertising, beauty standards, and appearance-based bias.

KALI Lens draws inspiration from this idea by exploring how emerging technologies—such as augmented reality and wearable interfaces—could help reduce the influence of appearance-based bias in everyday interactions. Rather than changing human biology, KALI Lens uses design and digital mediation to shift how visual information is presented and interpreted.

What it does

KALI Lens is a meta glasses add-on application designed to reduce appearance-based bias by subtly filtering or abstracting facial attractiveness cues in real time. Using computer vision and augmented reality overlays, the system modifies visual signals that commonly trigger unconscious judgments of attractiveness.

Instead of highlighting facial beauty, the application emphasizes neutral visual representations, allowing users to focus more on communication, ideas, and interaction rather than physical appearance.

KALI Lens acts as a perception layer, giving users the option to temporarily reduce the influence of visual beauty cues in social and digital environments.

Who's it for

KALI Lens is designed primarily for young adults between the ages of 17 and 23, particularly college students who are among the most affected by social media exposure, persuasive advertising, and appearance-based comparison culture.

During this stage of life, individuals often experience heightened social pressure related to beauty standards, popularity, and self-image. KALI Lens aims to provide a tool that promotes healthier perception habits, encouraging users to engage with others based on ideas, personality, and communication rather than appearance alone.

The New Sense it enables

KALI Lens introduces a form of perceptual reframing, enabling users to experience social interaction without the automatic emphasis on facial attractiveness.

Rather than adding a new sensory input, the system modifies how existing visual information is prioritized. This creates space for a different kind of perception—one that emphasizes: voice, expression, ideas, emotional tone, and conversational engagement.

In doing so, KALI Lens helps users develop greater awareness of how subconscious visual cues influence judgment, effectively creating a new mode of socially aware perception.

How it Works in Everyday Life

Shopping and Advertising

While browsing in stores or viewing advertisements, KALI Lens can reduce the impact of appearance-based persuasion commonly used in marketing. Many ads rely heavily on highly curated models and beauty standards to influence purchasing decisions. By softening or abstracting attractiveness cues in promotional imagery, KALI Lens allows users to focus more on the actual product, quality, and usefulness rather than the attractiveness of the person promoting it. This can help users make more intentional and less emotionally influenced purchasing decisions.

Social Media Browsing

When connected to compatible social platforms through AR glasses, KALI Lens can abstract or soften beauty-enhancing filters and appearance cues in images. This reduces comparison-driven scrolling and helps users engage with content in a healthier way.

Networking and Social Events

At events such as career fairs or student organizations, KALI Lens can reduce first-impression bias by minimizing attractiveness signals. This encourages users to focus more on conversation quality, shared interests, and communication style.

Safeguards and Ethics

Because KALI Lens alters visual perception, ethical considerations were central to the design process.

The system includes several safeguards:

-User-controlled activation – the feature can be turned on or off at any time

-Transparency – users are aware when visual filtering is active

-Non-invasive design – the system modifies only the user’s view rather than altering others’ identities or personal data

-Respect for autonomy – the tool is intended as an optional aid for reflection, not a mandatory filter

The goal is to empower users with greater awareness of perceptual bias, not to enforce a single way of viewing others.

How we built it

KALI Lens was developed as a conceptual augmented reality interface prototype using design and prototyping tools rather than a fully functional AR system.

We designed the interface and user experience using Figma, where we created the visual layouts, user flows, and interaction screens for the application. Using Figma Make, we generated interface components and explored different UI variations for how the perception filter might appear in a smart glasses environment.

We also used Figma Slides to present the concept, organize our research, and communicate the overall vision and design decisions behind KALI Lens.

Together, these tools allowed us to prototype how a bias-reducing perception filter could function within a wearable interface while focusing on design, user interaction, and conceptual experience rather than building the underlying computer vision system.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenges was translating a fictional neuroscience concept into a realistic technological interaction. In the original story, calliagnosia works by altering brain function, while our system had to approximate the effect through visual interface design.

Another challenge was balancing bias reduction with natural human interaction. If faces were altered too strongly, communication could feel unnatural or uncomfortable. Finding the right level of abstraction required careful design thinking.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of developing a concept that bridges literature, ethics, and emerging technology in a meaningful way.

KALI Lens demonstrates how augmented reality can be used not only for entertainment or productivity, but also for rethinking how humans perceive and evaluate each other.

We’re especially proud that the concept encourages users to reflect on subconscious biases that often go unnoticed in everyday life.

What we learned

Through developing KALI Lens, we learned that many forms of bias originate from automatic perception processes that occur before conscious thought.

Technology has the potential not only to extend human senses, but also to reshape how those senses influence judgment and social interaction.

We also learned that designing ethical technologies requires thinking carefully about user agency, transparency, and social consequences.

What's next for KALI Lens

Future versions of KALI Lens could explore deeper integrations with wearable technology and expanded perception tools.

Possible next steps include:

-studying how perception filters affect social behavior

-refining AR visualization techniques for subtle bias reduction

-integrating analytics that help users understand their own perception patterns

-collaborating with researchers in psychology and human-computer interaction

Ultimately, the goal is to explore how technology can help people interact more thoughtfully and fairly in a visually saturated world.

Built With

• figma
• heygen