Internet installations at the Thimphu clock tower, and in the city of Linz, Austria, captured and displayed photos of smiling and laughing faces as part of a project named Grand Mutual Smiles.

Cameras installed at the two sites, equipped with “smile detection technology”, approved of a photograph for display only if it first recognised the correct facial expression. The photographs were then projected onto screens at both venues in real time.

Pierre Proske, the man behind Grand Mutual Smiles, chose Bhutan as the location for the project for a very obvious reason, “happiness”. Proske, an Australian artist, who uses technology for art, said that, after researching the country and coming across the socio economic development philosophy, he decided Bhutan would be a “fun place” for the project.

Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba, whose smile was approved by the smile detection camera and displayed in Linz, said the project was a “very good idea”. But he felt Bhutanese were not smiling enough these days. “We need to smile more, and our smiles need to be broader.”

Opposition leader, Lyonpo Tshering Tobgay, after taking photographs of the technology for his blog, said a smile was “the meaning of life itself”, before heading home, with a slight grin on his face.

Her royal highness, Ashi Chimi Yangzom Wangchuck, inaugurated the installation. Grand Mutual Smiles is part of 80+1, a cultural event organised for the 2009 Linz cultural capital festivities in Austria.

The installation was set up by the voluntary artists’ studio, Thimphu (VAST).