But is it really a selfie if you cannot hold the vending machine in your hand? Maybe you can!
IT Media reports that Kirin Beverage is rolling out a “selfie” (自撮り or jidori) vending machine in Japan. A collaboration with the popular social network Line, the vending machine has a large LCD display and is outfitted with a camera.
According to Sankei News, buy a drink and take a pic, free of charge. These “vendor photos” offer Line users special frames and backgrounds. Even if the Japanese media says these photos are “selfies,” the set-up seems closer to a sticker picture booth.
Starting this month, these vending machines will begin spreading across Japan. The vending machines will even have English, Chinese, and Korean language options.
Top photo: IT Media via Kirin/Sankei News
Comments
3 responses to “Japanese Vending Machines Now Taking Selfies”
Oh, I thought it meant that vending machines were taking photos of themselves….
So did I. It’s not really a selfie if something else is taking the picture.
Well I thought that initially but realised that a set up where you press a button, cross a beam, open a door, flick a switch, turn a dial (and so on) to snap a photo of yourself is by definition a selfie (self initiated photo).
A photo of you initiated by another party (by any mechanism) is a portrait.
Sad to say that the former has overtaken the latter in popularity.