Smile-Bot Spreads Happiness In Public Space

“Smile though your heart is aching, smile even though it’s breaking”, wrote John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons in 1954 as lyrics for Charlie Chaplin’s song ‘Smile’. Even through all our sorrows and hardships, smiling is something we ought to do continuously, they claimed, and how right they were. Nowadays the world is not all fun and games and of course a smile can be further away than one might wish to admit, so for the moments where a smile is not at hand, there is Smile-Bot, who wants to fill your world with joy and laughter.

Conceived by the creative minds at We Are Matik, the interactive installation Smile-Bot is designed “to instill a sense of happiness in those around it”. The broadly smiling ‘robot’ has four holes in each side of his belly into which you can peek and observe Smile-Bot’s home planet. The beautiful part comes when you peek into his belly and smile. One of the four faces Smile-Bot has that is directly above you will light up, change color and some harmonization will start playing. Peek in with four people at the same time and the so-called ‘Ultra-Smile Mode’ will be triggered, playing sounds, showing colours and creating a rainbow on his home planet.

As a pop-up smiling station, Smile-Bot has one objective and one objective only: to collect smiles. Smile-Bot is not only a very happy fella, but tries (and mostly succeeds) to make people around him smile and laugh as well.  It is like ‘Smile’ was written especially for Smile-Bot: ‘If you smile through your fear and sorrow, smile, and maybe tomorrow you’ll see the sun come shining through, for you.’ We will, Smile-Bot, we will.