... smiles are worth something

Recently SapientNitro and Unilever have created a new kind of vending machine, a smile-activated ice cream vending machine.  Optimist World reports "The technology behind it is sophisticated, but the concept is simple: consumers walk up to the machine, smile and are rewarded with a frozen treat... Using facial recognition technology, it can recognize a person's age, gender and emotion, a measure their smile using a 'smile-o-meter'.  If their grin is wide enough they get free ice cream.  Users can also opt to have a picture of their happy self uploaded to Facebook, which ties in perfectly with Unilever's brand message: 'share happy'."

What does this ice cream machine mean for people?  Smiling and being happy are finally getting rewarded.  I think this idea is not only revolutionary but spectacular.  The machine gets groups of strangers to stand around and smile together in busy places where this is usually unheard of.  New York City has a reputation for having some of the coldest residents, but when smile-activated ice cream is in the mix, the people are all friendly smiles.  SapientNitro and Unilever are increasing smiles.

Smiling has benefits of its own.  Psychological studies show that simply by smiling and activating the facial muscles used in a smile will make you feel happier.  If you put a pen between your teeth and do not let your lips touch you are activating the same muscles. Try it.  This will also lead to a better mood.  The free ice cream only adds to these benefits.  Anyone offered a free frozen treat (unless they are lactose intolerant) will feel an automatic sense of happiness.  So these machines are making the world happier one smile-filled ice cream treat at a time.

But, perhaps what sticks out to me most about these machines is the obvious lack of profit they are producing.  SapientNitro and Unilever are not getting paid for these smiles.  In fact, they must be loosing money.  The machines have quite a bit of revolutionary technology behind them that certainly was not free to develop, and the scientists' labor had to have cost something.  Not to mention the ice cream that is inside the machines.  But wherever the funds are coming from, the idea is fantastic.

These smile-activated ice cream machines make me optimistic.  In a world where everything seems to be about money and profit and stepping on the other corporations something is different.  SapientNitro and Unilever are changing the game.  Instead of demanding money and profit, they are demanding smiles and happiness.  SapientNitro and Unilever's policies make me optimistic that smiles are worth something.  And what is better than a currency of happiness?

Read the full article from Optimist World here.