Give A Smile - Get A Free Ice Cream!

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