{"id":7809,"date":"2011-12-12T14:23:59","date_gmt":"2011-12-12T22:23:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emilychang.com\/?p=7809"},"modified":"2011-12-12T14:27:19","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T22:27:19","slug":"an-urban-emoticon-that-measures-the-happiness-of-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emilychang.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/an-urban-emoticon-that-measures-the-happiness-of-cities\/","title":{"rendered":"An Urban Emoticon that Measures the Happiness of Cities"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This is\u00a0emoji<\/a>\u00a0writ large.\u00a0The\u00a0F\u00fchl-o-meter\/Public Face<\/a>\u00a0is an interactive art installation that calibrates the mood of the city in which it has been erected with a monumental illuminated Smiley. The work of artists Richard Wilhelmer, Julius von Bismarck, and Benjamin Maus, the urban emoticon accurately communicates its host city\u2019s gef\u00fchlszustand<\/em>\u00a0according to \u201cmood data\u201d obtained using integrated software which analyzes photos of the faces of passing pedestrians and processes emotions out of them. Mechanical armatures modulate the face\u2019s expression in real-time, making it appear by turns happy, sad, or apathetic with corresponding gestures (smiley, frown, and blank). The Public Face was installed on top of a lighthouse on\u00a0Lindau Island<\/a>\u00a0last year, but we hope that it\u2019s rebooted and sent to other cities around the world. Not that it would prove especially insightful, given that most cities are downright miserable. Here\u2019s to the perpetually blank stare of Williamsburg!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n