Technology has not been kind to people who hate getting their photo taken. Thanks to the rise of digital photography and the ubiquity of camera phones, we’re all constantly in danger of having to pose for a photo – and are then instantly confronted with the on-screen results.

But now there’s a new gadget aimed at anyone who’s ever squirmed in horror at the sight their own wonky features. Panasonic is launching the Lumix FX77 (€319), a camera with a “Beauty Retouch” function that, with the click of a button, whitens the subject’s teeth, removes eye-bags, improves the translucency of the skin and makes the eyes look bigger and the face look smaller. If that weren’t enough, it can even apply virtual make-up – lipstick, eyeshadow and blush.

“According to data we’ve acquired, around 50 percent of our digital camera clients are not satisfied with the way their faces look in a photograph,” Akiko Enoki, the Panasonic project manager who developed the camera, said recently. “So we came up with the idea so our clients can fix parts they don’t like about their faces after they’ve taken the picture.”

But while this is all fun (and brilliant if you’d like to appear in photos looking more like a Manga character than your actual self), maybe it’s not such a bad idea to accept your real face – small eyes, red cheeks, wonky teeth and all.