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Internet of Things Meet Facebook.
Unilever's announcement is here. The key is 'smile-recognition software'
This is jointly developed with SapientNitro (part of Sapient Inc). According to them:
What next?
Unilever's announcement is here. The key is 'smile-recognition software'
This is jointly developed with SapientNitro (part of Sapient Inc). According to them:
Here is how it works: An entertaining “attractor screen” playfully immerses a passerby into the world of augmented reality, Wall’s style. Once drawn closer to the machine, the person is prompted for a big smile and the ‘smile-o-meter’ measures his or her grin. A photo is then taken and with permission uploaded onto Facebook. The consumer can pick out his or her free ice cream by using the touch-screen interface on the vending machine.
To create this groundbreaking experience, creative technologists at SapientNitro harnessed the power of the latest technology across a number of realms, including facial recognition, 3G and Facebook. Designed in a lab by specialist teams intent on creating a machine unlike any other, the unique features of the smile-activated vending machine include:
Groundbreaking facial recognition technology to track if a person is smiling. Intricate technology that captures and measures a person’s smile; the smile-o-meter – to let a person know how happy he or she is. 3G technology to enable uploading and sharing of smiles via social media with the user’s permission
SapientNitro also developed the graphic language, interface design and the unique animation style for the vending machine. Samsung was the screen provider and Sanden Vendo supplied the vending machine. The smile-activated ice cream vending machine made its first public appearance in May 2010 at the Rock in Rio festival in Lisbon, Portugal. It will roll out into high-traffic consumer locations like shopping malls across the globe over the next 18 months.--
What next?
Intel thinks retail is next. The video in this link is particularly impressive- a proof-of-concept technology that uses augmented reality to aid shoppers find items that they want. Impressive technology to be sure- it will be interesting to see which retailer experiments with this first, and how consumers will react!
ReplyDeleteImpressive technology to increase human-machine interactions! Imagine what else can the vending machines offer with this technology - instead of happy smiles, does having a sad face get a free chocolate?
ReplyDeleteThis seems to fly in the face of one of the three tenets from the mayor of Curitiba: Identity. The effort to bring this technology into the world is an expression of a new modern identity. In it's sheer desperation, it is a remark on the new world. Are we so socially decrepit that to smile in the street we need to be rewarded like puppies?
ReplyDelete