Hempel Smile: AI that draws crowds at trade fairs

Business context

Hempel, a global supplier of paints and coatings, regularly participates in international industry trade fairs. In a crowded, highly competitive exhibition environment, it became crucial not only to capture the attention of passers-by, but also to build a modern brand image and understand what genuinely engages visitors.

In 2018, the company decided to test an interactive, digital trade fair experience format that combined entertainment, an instant “wow” effect, and measurability. The use of artificial intelligence and facial recognition was intended to enable the collection of anonymous, aggregated demographic and emotional data, useful for planning communication and product presentation at future events.

The goal of the project was to create an attractive application that would increase traffic at the stand, engage visitors, and at the same time deliver valuable insights into the audience’s profile and mood — without extending the interaction or burdening stand staff.

Challenge

The challenge was to design a solution that would entertain and attract attention while reinforcing Hempel’s image as a modern, innovative company. The interface had to be intuitive and instantly reward the visitor’s attention in order to make the most of the short interest window typical of busy trade fairs.

A key requirement was to use facial recognition to quickly determine age, gender, and dominant emotions in order to assess passers-by’s reactions to the offer. The application needed to visualise this information clearly and do so in real time, without disrupting the natural flow of foot traffic.

Additionally, a mechanism was needed for the unique identification of detected faces during a session, in order to avoid counting the same people multiple times and to aggregate data on the number of detections, age ranges, and the probability of specific emotions occurring.

Solution

We created Hempel Smile — an interactive installation powered by AI algorithms that detects and analyses visitors’ faces, estimating their age, gender, and dominant emotions. A friendly, modern interface presents the results on screen instantly, turning spontaneous curiosity into an engaging experience.

The application labels each detected face with a unique identifier within the session, recording the number of repeat detections, the assigned age range, and the probability of a given emotion occurring. This data is aggregated and structured, making subsequent marketing analysis easier.

Thanks to its simplicity and appealing visual presentation, Hempel Smile became a magnet for passers-by. At the same time, the solution made it possible to increase traffic at the stand and equip the sales and marketing team with structured, qualitative indicators relating to visitor profiles and mood.