According to the American Foreign Press, Japanese cosmetics firm Shiseido says it has come up with a system to rate a person’s smile by measuring facial movements.
“Users look into a tablet device with the app, and it gives them a reading on the quality of their smile on a scale of zero to 120.
The app can also tell them how their smile is seen by others in various categories — trustworthy, elegant, attractive, beautiful, positive, friendly and lively.”
Facial-recognition technology developed by KART (Koozyt AR Technology) and Sony drive the app. Though it is slated for commercial release in 2017, it will first undergo exposure among a limited test audience.
Who better to test their smiles, at least per Shiseido’s plans?
Flight attendants.
Shiseido is trying out the software on 5,000 JAL flight attendants between July and September, as discussed in a report by JapanTrends.com.
“The level of the female attendants’ smiles will be judged by the app on a tablet device, deciding if their smiles are too unemotional or have the ability to light up a room. JAL has not announced if its flight attendants will be demoted or penalized for lacking perceived smile quality.”
According to JapanTrends.com, Shiseido has also been organizing “smile lectures” since 2008, based on its years of research into the importance of smiling. It runs them 3-5 times a year, reaching around 6,000 participants until now.