In 2012, the Spanish government raised taxes on theater tickets from 8 to 21%, leading to a sharp decrease in the number of patrons at comedy clubs. In order to make up for lost revenue, the Barcelona comedy club Teatreneu has installed a new system that will charge patrons by the number of laughs that they experience while attending a performance.
The advertising agency The Cyranos McCann developed the system. On the back of each seat is a camera hooked into a facial recognition system. As patrons laugh, the program calculates their bills. Cadie Thompson of CNBC writes:
Each giggle costs approximately 30 Euro cents ($0.38). However, if a patron hits the 24 Euros mark, which is about 80 laughs, the rest of their laughs are free of charge.
-via Marginal Revolution