Is Your Videogame Machine Watching You?

[u-Bob]

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/11/...-watching-you/

Microsoft Corp. officials are considering using the camera on their new Kinect videogame system to target ads to people watching the games.

Dennis Durkin, who serves as chief operating officer and chief financial officer for Microsoft?s Xbox video game business, told investors Thursday that Kinect ? which allows users to play video games without so much as a joystick ? presents business opportunities for targeted game marketing and advertising.

Kinect is a camera peripheral that plugs into the Xbox 360 console and allows players to control games with only body movements. The system uses facial recognition technology to sign in players and match them with their avatars and profiles. But the technology can also be put to use beyond those purposes, Durkin said in a presentation at an investors conference sponsored by BMO Capital Markets.

?We can cater which content we present to you based on who you are,? Durkin said. ?How many people are in the room when an ad is shown? How many people are in the room when a game is being played? When you add this sort of device to a living room, there?s a bunch of business opportunities that come with that.?

Such a system also could raise questions about privacy. In the past few months, targeted online advertising has been facing increasing scrutiny, and the use of cameras and facial recognition would push such technology into a new realm.

[martinsc]

[candyflip]

That's pretty fucking cool if you ask me.

[BestXXXPorn]

Drop an ad over any game I've paid for, while I'm playing, and I'll start buying my games for PS3 or PC...

[woj]

kinda neat, but a bit creepy too...

the camera sees you jerking off every night alone, and then you get AFF ads...

[Phoenix]

can you expect any less from the master of the universe?

he obviously has the right to spy on you..probably even got everyone to agree to it when plugging in his bullshit game device

[Fletch XXX]

was thinking same thing watching my brothers play that kenectic thing or whatever the thing even takes pics of you while you playing and shows em on screen.

[CIVMatt]

Originally Posted by BestXXXPorn

Drop an ad over any game I've paid for, while I'm playing, and I'll start buying my games for PS3 or PC...

You haven't seen all the product placement in games lately?

[DoubleD]

There's always going to be new ways to market to folks - things that blur the lines of current best practices and privacy because the technology is so new - playing on my ps3, cant help but notice how ads/images displayed by default in the playstation network are related to games i play or played over the last few months - and trophies, I just know someone is crunching those numbers somewhere - determining how games are played, what games, how to market - even down to content in the games themselves

I liked the bit about displaying ads according to the number of people in the room - what if you're sad and alone - do you see fewer ads, ads for only 1 player games? lol

(maybe I've just been looking at graphs, etc for too long)