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Official development blog for the PARANOIA roleplaying game. No description is available at your security clearance. The Computer is your friend.

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

PARANOIA in the real world: Japanese TV watches you 

"The next best thing since the TV programming guide" is the dry title for this Newlaunches post:
Japan based NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories (STRL) is testing an interface which observes TV viewers, determines their interest, and provides information related to the TV program in accordance with the way they are watching it. UTAN (User Technology Assisted Navigation) TV viewing interface, as it is called, has a camera mounted on the TV which photographs the viewer and estimates the viewer's degrees of interest, concentration, etc., from circumstances such as who is watching the TV with how much interest. [...]

The viewer's interest is determined by observing his face, facial expression, and motion. For [example,] if the viewer's expression does not change for a brief period, then he may be concentrating on the program. At the moment the differences are derived by comparing to the normal state, but it is also possible to ascertain if the viewer is happy or angry.
[Via Midnight on Paranoia-Live.net.]

Comments:
Welcome 1984...
 
Who in their right mind would buy such a TV? Exhibitionists, maybe, but other than that?

Maybe the people who turn to their spouse and ask, "Honey, did I like that movie? What did I think of that restaurant we ate at? Did that YouTube video entertain me?"
 
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