Having lived in Japan for around 10 years, I have a lot of experience riding on the trains and subway. Working long hours and going out for drinks every second night with your work colleagues, it is easy to nod off coming home from work. The problem is making sure you wake up in time to get off at the right stop.

A Japanese company is attempting to solve this problem by coming up with an eye mask, which displays which station you want to get off at. The idea is to let your surrounding passengers know where you want get off and for them to wake you up.

Noriko Face mask Japan subway

The mask looks pretty big and somehow I can’t see it taking off. Also, I wonder if people would actually go to the trouble of waking up a stranger on a train. Since trains in Japan run on a really tight schedule, I am surprised a company hasn’t come up with more of a advanced solution, like a program which runs on your mobile phone, that rings or vibrates when your stop is approaching.

Reminds me of the many books available on wacky Japanese inventions.

Via