Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Smile Machines Scan and Rank Workers Daily
Smile scans performed by automated machines are given daily to workers at Keihin Electric Express Railway in Japan. The software is provided by Omron Corporation (see the earlier article OKAO Vision Lets Machines See You Smile).
OKAO originally developed their smile recognition software for use in cameras or other consumer devices to help the camera focus on smiling faces, which tends to be what people want their cameras to do.
Keihin Railway workers, on the other hand, are forced to submit to the "smile police machine" every morning when they come to work. The Omron software checks a variety of facial characteristics, and then ranks the smile from 0 to 100; the consumer version describes this ranking as "percent smiling".
Employees whose smiles fail to measure up are given computerized messages to encourage them to smile better. "You look too serious" and "Lift up your mouth corners" are typical feedback.
The workers also receive a printout of their daily smile, along with its smile ranking; this paper is kept throughout the day for purposes of inspiration.
SF fans are maintaining poker faces; we recall previous examples of machines judging our apparent mood based on visual or other cues. The Daily Schedule from Frank Herbert's 1977 novel The Dosadi Experiment and the HAL 9000 computer from Arthur C. Clarke's 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey both judge human fitness for duty using voice analysis.
I'm guessing that some readers are frowning a bit at the idea that it is now possible for a machine to precisely grade your smile, with the expectation that you will meet a set standard every day at work. Once management has a number for something, it's all over.
However, I was actually thinking that an even more sinister motive might be at work. Readers may recall the Jules robot that uses special software to match your smile. Once robots have learned to smile perfectly, the last reason to prefer a person over a robot will have disappeared.
(Jules humanoid robot goes for a smile)
Learn more details about Omron Corporation's OKAO Vision. Story from The Telegraph via Futurismic.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 7/8/2009)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 2 )
Related News Stories - (" Culture ")
Switzerland May Cap Population At Ten Million
'The population of Castle Hagedorn was fixed...' - Jack Vance, 1967.
California Governor Candidate Calls For Voting By Phone
'... every veephone on the continent would display, over and over, two propositions.' John Brunner, 1975.
Chinese Hospital Tries Vonnegut's 'Harrison Bergeron' Cosplay
'He wore spectacles with thick wavy lenses. The spectacles were intended to make him not only half
blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides.' - Kurt Vonnegut, 1961.
A Remarkable Coincidence
'There is a philosophical problem of some difficulty here...' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1953.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Outdoor Video Screens Can Be Arbitrarily Large
The Shape of Things To Come
Infrared Contact Lenses To See In The Dark
'I can see in the dark, Case.'
What'll You Have? Extinct Animals Returned, Or Synthetic Eggshells?
'...a new plastic with the characteristics of an avian eggshell.'
Sunbird Pulsar Fusion Like Leinster's Space Tug
'It was a pushpot, which could not possibly be called a jet plane because it could not possibly fly. Only it did.'
RentAHuman App Lets AI Agents Hire Humans
'She wouldn't stop until Antar had told her everything he knew about whatever it was that she was playing with on her screen.'
Unitree CEO Wang Xingxing Runs With His G1 Robot Army
'Does thinking you're the last sane man on the face of the Earth make you crazy?'
AIs Turn Marxist Under Bad Management
'It was a general strike of the robots...'
Moscow Attacked By Hundreds Of Drones
'It hurtled on down with inconceivable speed until it was visible as thousands of tiny robot planes...'
Nifty Folding Electric Bicycles!
'Separate paths were provided for them...'
FTC: Says Ring Employees Illegally Surveilled Customers
'Then she looked up with a smile and moved closer to the camera.'
Switzerland May Cap Population At Ten Million
'The population of Castle Hagedorn was fixed...'
Project Silica Offers 'Long-Term' Digital Storage
'... folios and tapes and playable discs of platinum alloy.'
Can 'Tactical Umbrellas' Shield One From Drones
'... another corner of his mind began to think about the shields.'
Crystalline Structures In Space, You Say?
A massive space borne lifeform from ST:TNG.
Garçon! A Menu For Artemis II, S'il Vous Plaît
'Michel Ardan, as a Frenchman, was declared chief cook, an important function, which raised no rival.'
Amazing Photonic Crystal Light Sail
'That sail will be twenty thousand miles at the wide part.'
