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The Smile-Powered TV

The Smile-Powered TV

The Smile-Powered TV
23 July 2014

Remember the fateful Friends spin-off Joey? You can be safe that it's in no danger of airing on this retro-looking TV.

Combining facial recognition and image manipulation, this goggle-box only delivers decent reception when the viewer has a smirk on their face, meaning hard-hitting documentaries about World War Two and faltering comedies won’t be exactly the easiest of viewing experiences.

The curmudgeon-free TV is the brainchild of Royal College Of Art graduate David Hedberg, who has even had the cleverness to tweak the system into giving a better picture depending on the size of the grin.

“Bad reception used to be associated with the poor technical performance of an antenna,” says the man himself. "But today with information so widely accessible, often at the palm of our hands, the question is no longer if we can receive, but whether we are receptive.”

In short, very cool. But whatever you do, don’t put the post Charlie Sheen episodes of Two And A Half Men on. It could well explode.

Smile TV from David Hedberg on Vimeo.