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# Pay Per Laugh
- URL: https://www.protein.xyz/pay-per-laugh/
- Published: 2014-10-09T11:36:00.000Z
- Updated: 2016-06-14T20:57:43.000Z
- Description: Facial recognition technology counts how often you laugh and charges you accordingly
- Author: Maks Fus Mickiewicz
- Tags: Seeds, Technology, #protein, #Import 2024-06-11 13:25

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/fc/71/fc716215-5729-441a-bd07-e2b50bc413b1/content/images/S3/protein/10271/f5b29bbd-be55-4839-861b-023f88c6fddc.png)

Last year the Spanish government decided to raise the tax for theatrical shows from 8% to 21%, resulting in a fall in audience attendance of 30% in one year.   
  
In response to this, [Teatreneu](http://www.teatreneu.com/?ref=protein.xyz), a comedy club in Barcelona has partnered with advertising agency [The Cyranos McCann](http://www.thecyranosmccann.com/?ref=protein.xyz) and came up with an ingenious new way to get people back through the door.   
  
Pay per Laugh is a new project that charges audience members according to how much they laugh at a show. Using facial-recognition technology installed in iPads attached to the back of seats, a count is made of how often each person laughs. This data is then sent to a server which creates and monitors the statistics. Audience members are offered free admittance but are charged €0.30 per laugh. However, the price for laughter is capped at €24.  
  
There are a number of brands working towards monetising emotional data. [Studio XO](http://www.studio-xo.com/?ref=protein.xyz) worked with [Saatchi & Saatchi](http://saatchi.co.uk/en-gb/?ref=protein.xyz) at this year’s [New Director’s Showcase 2014](http://saatchi.com/en-uk/network/new-directors/?ref=protein.xyz). 2,300 people in the audience wore the [wristbands](https://www.prote.in/en/feed/2014/07/xox?ref=protein.xyz) and their emotional responses were visualised on screen, showing the audience how they felt, as they felt it.