Happiness machines to gauge happiness of people in China

Can happiness be measured? We feel people are happy if we see them smiling, laughing or going about their daily lives without any major hindrance. But a machine for measuring happiness sounds a little weird, right? however, this is exactly what people in china are witnessing right now. A machine is telling them whether they are happy or not and if they are happy then how happy are they.

Interactive computers

This "happiness measurement" is actually part of a campaign to gauge how happy the people in China are? The campaigners will also try to ascertain the reasons behind people's happiness or unhappiness. The campaign will be run till 2nd August and after that the data collected will be analyzed.

The campaign is carried out through two different mediums. Firstly, a "happiness machine" will gauge people's happiness and secondly, a twitter like micro blog site, called Sina Weibo, will also help in the process by encouraging people to express their emotions on the site. The machine that will measure people's happiness has been fitted at various bus stops all over Beijing, Kunming, Xi'an and Zhengzhou. People have been asked to come and press a button and the machine will show them "how happy they are." An LCD screen fitted over a billboard will display the result regarding their happiness.

Interactive Commuters

People can also express their emotions on the Sina Weibo micro-blogging site. They can log on to the site anytime they want and express their feelings online. The data collected from the bus stop machines and the micro-blogging site will be later analyzed to see if people in China are happy or not.

Whether this campaign will provide any substantive result is still to be seen, but there is no doubt that the idea is both ingenious and refreshing. Use of technology for measuring people's happiness has happened before as well, but not at this massive scale. Now, let's see how happy the Chinese really are in their country and with their lives.

Via: China Daily