Sony digi-cam boasts smile sensor - won't work until everyone grins

21 August 2007 8:07 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T200 has a unique feature. It's got what you'd expect from a compact digi-cam, 8.1-megapixels, 5x zoom and a 3.5-inch touchscreen LCD, but it's also got something you wouldn't expect - a smile sensor.

An optional scene selection lets you select an option that means the camera will fire the shutter when it detects smiles on all the subject's faces. Here's how it works:

"Using Sony’s proprietary algorithm, this innovative intelligent auto shutter system responds actively to smiling faces."

"To start, just choose SmileShutter from Scene Selection, then press the shutter fully on the subject to be taken; the camera automatically detects the smiling face and closes the shutter."

What's more, you can select varying degrees of happy, so you make sure you get a broad grin, rather than a forced grimace:

"To detect the different degrees of smiles by your subject, you can set Smile Level sensitivity to "high" (to detect a faint smile), "medium" (for a normal smile), or "low" (for a hearty laugh)."

No pricing or availability info as yet, link to the micro-site below.