In Japan, a supermarket chain controls the smiles of its employees using facial recognition technology – Libération

A Japanese proverb says: “Okyakusama and Kamisama desu.” In other words, “The customer is God”AEON chain and its 240 supermarkets were approved on July 1. Facial and behavioral recognition software to assess the smile of its employees in order to “Maximum customer satisfaction”according to the company. The program, called “Mr Smile,” was developed by Japanese technology company InstaVR. Article from South China Morning PostRAble to assess an employee's attitude with great accuracy, this system, which is supposed to boost sales, is based on more than 450 criteria that analyze in particular facial expressions, voice volume or even the tone of greetings.

This system is also designed as a kind of game, where everyone is invited to improve their score from quarter to quarter. “When an employee gets a certain number of experience points, his level increases and game elements such as difficulty level and variations change according to the level.”We can read in the company's press release.

“Normalizing smiles”

And it seems to have paid off. The trials were conducted in eight stores with around 3,400 employees over three months. The results: Employee behavior is now 1.6 times better, according to the supermarket chain that wants it. “Normalize employee smiles and maximize customer satisfaction.”

Obviously, the use of this system raises many questions about the working conditions and harassment (insults and repeated complaints) that store employees may be exposed to. The phenomenon has a name: Kasuhara. This year, nearly half of the group's 30,000 employees have reported being victims, according to Japan's largest union, UA Zensen.

“When service workers are forced to smile according to some standard, it seems to me that this is another form of customer harassment.” He also confirmed to South China Morning Post Anonymous source, while others believe that the smile should remain “It's a beautiful, honest thing, and it shouldn't be treated as a product.”.