SapientNitro has unveiled a smile-activated ice-cream vending machine for Unilever this week at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in France.  

Unilever is the world’s biggest ice-cream manufacturer and has diverse brands such as Wall’s, Ben & Jerry’s, Good Humor, Breyers and Klondike in its global portfolio. This ice-cream van for the digital age features revolutionary interactive technology and offers an innovative brand experience – part of Unilever’s new ice-cream mission to encourage people to share moments of happiness. See the storyboard here. 

Ian Maskell, global brand development director for Wall’s at Unilever, said: "We’re really excited about the possibility this new technology holds for Unilever. It offers a revolutionary new way for consumers to buy ice-cream and, simultaneously, a revolutionary brand experience."

Here is how it works: An entertaining ‘attractor screen’ draws passersby closer to the machine, the person is prompted to smile and the ’smile-o-meter’ measures his or her grin. A photo is then taken and, with permission, uploaded onto Facebook. The consumer can pick out his or her free ice-cream by using the touch-screen interface on the vending machine. 

Kim Douglas, managing director of SapientNitro UK and global lead for Unilever, said: "You would expect nothing less from Unilever, a company highly respected for innovation, than to introduce an industry-leading brand experience. We are thrilled to work with Unilever on this, and look forward to seeing the vending machine being rolled out into other markets around the world.

To create the experience, creative technologists at SapientNitro harnessed the power of the latest technology across a number of realms, including facial recognition, 3G and Facebook. The features of the smile-activated vending machine include: 

• Groundbreaking facial recognition technology to track if a person is smiling
• Intricate technology that captures and measures a person’s smile  – the smile-o-meter – to let a person know how happy he or she is
• 3G technology to enable uploading and sharing of smiles via social media, with the user’s permission

SapientNitro also developed the graphic language, interface design and the unique animation style for the vending machine. Samsung was the screen provider and Sanden Vendo supplied the vending machine.

The smile-activated ice-cream vending machine will roll out into high-traffic consumer locations like shopping malls across the globe over the next 18 months.