Taking the Measure of Your Smile

A Japanese company's Smile Scan device promises to distinguish between a grin and a smirk by measuring the “broadness” and “openness” of a user's smile. Developed by Omron Corp. as a tool for hospitality companies to train their frontline staffs to look happy and friendly, the Smile Scan uses a camera to evaluate 30 different facial sections and calculate a “smile level” score. A training mode lets users practice their smiles and save their best ones as picture files for future reference and smiling practice sessions.

Meanwhile, a “game function mode” lets two people compete for the better score.

Can competitive smiling be far behind?