Happy-go-lucky: Ice cream with a smile

London – This treat depends on your best behaviour. Smile and you activate an ice cream vending machine.

To attract consumers, the Share Happy machine, created by London-based consultancy agency SapientNitro for Unilever, uses Augmented Reality via an entertaining ‘attractor screen’ that recognises when people walk by.

Once close enough, passers-by are asked to smile and a ‘smile-o-meter’ measures their grin. The machine then takes a photo and with permission uploads it onto Facebook. If their smile is big enough the lucky person can choose a free ice cream via the vending machine’s touchscreen interface.

SapientNitro used the latest technology, including facial recognition that identifies people’s moods, to create the interactive machine. It will be rolled out worldwide over the next 18 months. This is a great example of how to engage on-the-go consumers. For more examples of how vending machines can help brands to reach consumers, read our recent Insight News article.