The economy remains in a recession, our country is in its seventh year of war and many live in fear of terrorist attacks. Maybe what everybody needs is an escape.

This was most likely going through the minds of the inventors of the “frog concept,” which is arguably one of the most significant inventions ever.

The frog is a mask that goes on your face, covering your eyes and nose. Its sleek look and dark, mysterious lenses let everybody know that the mask is all-business. Not only does it look impressive, but what goes on behind the mask is even more shocking. The frog takes images from the brain of whoever is wearing it and transfers the person’s fantasy world on to the lenses.

For most adults that means that they imagine themselves sitting in a luxurious office surrounded by piles of cash, when in reality they may be taking orders at McDonald’s. For students, it will look as though those 50 percents on the top of their math tests have been crossed out and replaced with a perfect score.

Not only does the frog project images of a perfect world, it applies to other senses as well. Say you are starving and cannot wait to eat. Maybe a batch of hot chocolate chip cookies sounds good. Well, the mask will transfer that scent straight to the nose piece, and soon enough you will smell the delicious goodies as if you were standing right in front of them.

This may sound like harmless fun, but what happens when people start to lose their grip on reality? People may become so busy running away from their problems, that they won’t be able to face their problems head on. Yes, times are tough, but escaping into an imaginary world is not the answer.

Under the spell of the frog, the world seems perfect, and if all users of the device believe that the world is perfect, they will not feel the need to do anything to help solve problems that exist in reality. If an environmentalist wears the frog and sees a planet without pollution, they will not be motivated to help the environment, because it will seem unnecessary.

There are smaller consequences as well. If you are overweight, but imagine that you are a healthy while using the frog, you may not go to the gym and actually get in shape. This will lead to an increase in obesity amongst users.

Aside from the hypothetical effects, the design is still not ideal. The masks may look sleek, but are too robotic and impersonal. People would be at risk of losing their individuality if they all walked around looking like clones with futuristic masks covering their faces.

According to FrogDesign.com, the facial expressions of those wearing the device would be detected and projected onto personal avatars visible to others also living behind the shield of the mask. In this case, all normal human communication would be cut off. People would not even interact with each other because they would be able to simply send their messages from mask to mask.

The makers of the frog claim that the mask would be “a sort of visual drug.” The problem with most drugs is that people become addicted. Users would easily become so addicted to wearing the masks that they could possibly become dependent on living in their happier, trouble-free world.

The frog may offer a nicer alternative to real life, but its effects on humans are too dangerous to accept. While the goggles separate what is fantasy from reality with red and green lines, it won’t be very long before the lines begin to blur.