Give A Smile - Get A Free Ice Cream!

By - 271 words

Language

Reading Level

Listen to Article

How many times have you foraged the bottom of the ice cream machine in hope that someone has forgotten to pick up change or hit at it hard, praying that an ice-cream will plop out? Now, with 'Share Happy', you will need to do none of that - Simply smile and the machine will be happy to dispense you a sweet cool of your choice!

Created for Unilever, the worlds largest ice cream maker (Ben & Jerry's, Good Humor, Klondike etc etc.), Share Happy is a state of the art ice cream vending machine that senses movement and has the capability to determine age, gender and most importantly the emotional state of the person in front of it.

When the smart machine senses a person close by, it reflects an image of him/her with cartoons around in order to draw them closer. Once it succeeds, the customer is prompted to smile and a 'smile-o-meter' measures the grin and lets them know how happy they really are.

If the person is deemed happy, a photo is taken and with his/her permission, transferred immediately to Unilever's Facebook page to share with the entire world. The customer is then rewarded with a ice cream of their choice!

The machines were tested out successfully at the Rock in Rio festival in Lisbon, Portugal and an International advertising event in Cannes, France. Unilever plans to roll out many more across the globe in the next 18 months in high traffic areas like malls - Yum and double Yum! If you happen to see one be sure to let us know by writing your comments below.

Sources: Gizmondo.com, contagious.com

Cite Article
Geography
246 Comments
  • Megalmost 9 years
    That is so amazing! I would love to have one of those in my house!! All you have to do is smile, and you get free ice cream!! If you went to a mall, and just kept going up to it, you could get like 10 icecreams!!
    • josh100
      josh100almost 9 years
      i like the idea of it and i also think it is a cool way to get kids to smile.
      • awesome about 9 years
        I love that ice cream especially the Popsicles the children's the Popsicle cups and the Breyers
        • bigmelo
          bigmeloover 9 years
          You know what? I really like this invention because it's something that has the ability to make people happy. The great Charles Darwin once suggested that our feelings are influenced by our emotional responses. He wrote, "The free expression by outward signs of an emotion intensi­fies it". So if you should ever stumble across this invention, why not try it out? Look into the machine & smile your biggest smile. Doesn't it make you feel happy? & to increase your smile, you'll have some ice cream in your hands before you know it! :D
          • felicisowl
            felicisowlover 9 years
            It's said that, "No one is born hating someone. People must learn to hate, and if they can hate, they can learn to love... for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." It can also mean a smile comes easily than a frown (your bones even work harder for frowning) because LOVE comes more easily to the heart than HATE.
          • saanvi
            saanviover 9 years
            I had never seen it.
            • tashaz
              tashazover 9 years
              Lucky. If I invented one i would just keep it and eat ice cream all day lol :)
              • 111111111111111over 9 years
                <3 means LOVE.......
                • 111111111111111over 9 years
                  i agree with Eve i <3 ice cream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
                  • Eve over 9 years
                    We should have one at school
                  • strawberry06
                    strawberry06almost 10 years
                    awesome :)