Are there times when life gets you down and in an attempt to cheer you up someone says, “you look better when you smile…”? Ever want to punch that person in the face? Think about if upon beginning your work day, you are subjected to a “smile scan”. Staff at the Keihin Electric Express Railway are now required to submit to these daily face scans which aims to boost daily commuter service.

After analyzing lip curves, wrinkles, and eye movements, the smilebot subsequently rates your mug and offers suggestions like, “lift up your mouth corners” or “you still look too serious” in the attempt fulfill the greatest potential of your smile. Employees receive a handy printout rating their smile on a scale of 0 – 100 to take and inspire them throughout the day.

I ask, why not just tack on pieces of flair to their uniforms?

[Foreign Policy]

Economic hard times are everywhere, even for those with a dream job. In a recent interview with Shomu Shirogane, a voice actor manager from Japan, he reveals that out of the approximately 1600 voice actors in Japan, 80% cannot make ends meet simply with their voice acting gigs so they take on part time jobs to pay the bills. Only about 5% can actually make a living solely from voice acting, the other 5% are actors or idols as well as voice actors.

A harsh reality, but an interesting scenario, were the guy delivering food to your door or that voice at the call center may very well be your favorite character’s voice.

[ANN]