New Photo Technology Rates Smiles

• by Carlo Orlando on 20080414 @ 07:59PM EST | google it | send to friends
• Filed under Technology | Science | (related terms: technology, okao catch, image, smile, omron corp)

New technology out of Japan could ensure that you think twice about how your toothy grin will appear once a photo is taken.

Omron Corp., a major electronics and health care company, has created new technology that works with virtually any type of modern camera to analyze a person's smile. The technology takes into account curved lips, eye movements and other facial features to determine how much a person is smiling. Multiply this feature by 100 faces within the same image and a simple photo becomes an interactive game of "who has the best smile". (Source: usatoday.com)

The technology has been named "Okao Catch" (Japanese for "face catch") and has the ability to compute a percentage for up to 100 faces within a given image.

At a recent convention held to signal the unveiling of "Okao Catch", onlookers found themselves part of the demonstration when their image was secretly captured and displayed on a large monitor alongside dozens of other tech enthusiasts. The group image was shown with a number of big blue percentage icons that appeared next to each face.

The highest smile percentage at the convention was 89%, though more than a few sombre faces clocked in at 0%.

Embarrassing smiles aside, analysts expect the new technology to offer a number of positive opportunities for the ever-growing tech industry. Omron Corp. hopes that Okao Catch will make it easier for robotic machines to decipher human emotions or that doctors may one day use the technology in assessing the fluctuating emotional states of their patients. (Source: go.com)

But, even if Okao Catch is only used to help everyday people perfect their smiles, the technology will once again mark an incredible breakthrough in how we approach simple, everyday situations.

Say Cheese.

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