Ubergizmo.com has reported on a new Emoticon app for cell phones. “Twikao” is an app the digitizes a facial expression from a photo and turns it into an emoticon.
Developed by Takuto Onishi from Japan, this app can take any photo of a face (as long as it is fairly clear) and turn it into an emoticon. It has over 100 facial variations. See the image below courtesy Ubergizmo.com
On a similar note NewsOK has reported on what it means to have a “facial accent”. They compare the face symbols used via a keyboard by Americans and Japanese and suggest that even in the electronic world of emotions different cultures have varying facial accents or regions of facial focus.