Say cheese to get a free ice-cream!

Buying an ice-cream from a vending machine isn’t exactly as fun an exercise as it could be. That’s why SapientNitro (part of Sapient) and Unilever have created the world’s first smile-activated ice-cream vending machine as part of Unilever’s ‘Share Happy’ campaign. This smile-activated ice-cream vending machine combines face-recognition technology to measure a person’s smile and take a photo that can be uploaded to Facebook with the built-in 3G capability.

Michael Leonard, director, SapientNitro says: “We 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 product is currently in a number of test markets like Portugal, Singapore and the UK, and will be rolled out globally in the next 18 months in high-traffic areas, like shopping malls.

The vending machine comes with facial-recognition software that detects gender, age, mood and even how much a person is smiling. Detected through a ‘Smile-O-Meter’, the machine displays how much a person is smiling. When a customer is smiling enough, the machine dispenses a free ice-cream.

While Leonard did not specify the cost of building such a machine, he says it took six months for the development of pilot machine interface that was used for initial market tests. Now, the company is contemplating to deploy the graphic language, user interface design and the animation style created by SapientNitro “into mobile handsets, LCD displays and any other display gadgets.”

The facial recognition technology, believes SapientNitro, can be pivotal in delivering future merchandising applications, which will allow consumers to engage with a brand in new ways. “Both augmented reality and facial-recognition technology used in this vending machine have been in heavy rotation among a bevy of brands and social networking sites lately. We think the social media integration is what makes this campaign interesting,” concludes Leonard.