'Diet goggles' convince wearers their stomach is full 

Japanese scientists have developed a set of revolutionary new 'diet goggles' which trick over-indulgent eaters into scoffing less food. 

Anyone donning a pair of the bespoke glasses will almost certainly have eyes too big for their belly, with the specs being specifically designed to make food appear up to 50 per cent larger than it actually is.

The goggles can also fool people eating a savoury snack into thinking they are actually eating a tasty chocolate treat.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo say the illusion tricks a person's brain into thinking they are about to eat super-sized portions, while the wearer's hand remains normal size.

Volunteers wearing the augmented reality device were told to eat biscuits until they felt full to test the effectiveness of the goggles. 

'By changing the size of the food and scaling it up we have shown that participants eat about 10 per cent less over the course of a day,' said Takuji Narumi, an assistant professor working on the project.

'This is because the brain believes visual information rather than the information it receives from the stomach or our other internal sensors.'

Obesity remains a growing problem, particularly in the US, but this latest device could be an huge ally in the battle against the bulge. 

However the researchers say they have not yet made plans to release the product commercially.