A Dutch artist resorted to a frequently used idiom to express one straightforward point of view with the aid of an ingeniously built gimmick. ‘’Don’t judge a book by its covers!’’ is a phrase used by a multitude of people, and not necessarily in connection with books. Thijs Biersteker helped create The Cover That Judges You, no metaphor involved.
The above indicated saying is a metaphor and this is why its meaning is applied to a vast and even more profound area than that of objects such as books. The imperative sentence has the function of a council, which dictates humans not to value other beings or their actions according to appearance, as they are capable of profoundness and hidden, more meaningful beliefs or behavior. But books are not necessarily plain objects, although they are not human either – being a mixture of physical, object-like traits and the infinite universes beyond their covers, books become half-human. It is this humanized trait of the ‘’reading objects’’ Thijs Biersteker tried to emphasize when he helped create The Cover That Judges You.
Dutch artist Thijs Biersteker worked with design studio Moore in order to create The Cover That Judges You and did so for The Art Directors Club of the Netherlands meeting. The abnormal book literally judges the potential reader before he/she is given the opportunity to meddle with its inner writings. The book, which encompasses the best advertising artwork of the year, does not permit judgmental persons to read it. In order to open and read it, one must align one’s face to the face design of the cover. Once the first step achieved, that very cover has a camera at its top and uses an Nxt software process which helps determine the emotional state of the person in question. The verdict is given by the color produced by the screen behind the cover as an analysis of one’s micro facial expressions. If you are highly emotional and display for example, smiles or grins, the cover will trigger the red color. If, on the other hand, one has a neutral facial expression and does not display any emotions whatsoever, proves that he/she is not prone to judging easily. This triggers a green light on the screen which consequently sends an audio signal to an Arduino board. In this manner, the metal lock opens and the spell of the book is broken and its content revealed to its readers.
Thijs Biersteker describes his ides in the following manner (via Wired): ‘’With an overflowing stream of beautiful things coming at you through the web on a daily basis, the art of being open for amazement and wonderment is hard to maintain.’’ This quote makes The Cover That Judges You a fun gimmick, which hits at open-mindedness and vitality. Although the mechanism of the book is interestingly built, we could also start with the premises that a person could fake his/her reactions, emotions, thus ordering the smart cover to trigger a pre-established color: green, in the case of someone wanting to read it. Sure, The Cover That Judges is not such a smart gadget (as can be easily manipulated), which also makes it less practical and useful in concrete contexts, but it sure is an innovative and interesting concept.