This Comedy Club Charges By the Laugh
In Barcelona, a comedy club is keeping tabs on its patrons’ laughs with facial recognition technology
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You go to a comedy show, expecting to laugh the night away. But the show was not funny, and now you want your money back. If you can relate, you might be interested in an experimental ticketing system at a club in Barcelona that charges you by the laugh.
From the Verge:
The Teatreneu club, in partnership with ad agency The Cyranos McCann, has installed tablets on the back of each seat equipped with facial recognition software that can apparently detect when you laugh. The going rate is 0.30 Euros ($0.38) per laugh, up to a maximum of 24 Euros ($30.45). In other words, buy 80 laughs and the rest are free.
Facial recognition systems been used in industries from law enforcement to education to cat feeding. Credit card companies are even experimenting with it as a new payment method. But this is one of the first instances of using it to track audiences.
Apparently the experiment is working. The BBC reports that since they started using the system ticket prices are up by 6 Euros or $7.58, and other venues are looking into using the technology.