Sony wants to track every aspect of your personality and life

[garyopa]

A new patent highlights that possibility. PS SkEYEnet?



A recently spotted Sony Patent called 'Automated Video Game Rating' aims to film you, watch you, listen to you and more...

This one is a Sony patent from 2010, but it was just published.

In there, the company details a -creepy- "biometric controller and next gen PS Eye combination".

Its called “Automated Video Game Rating”, and Sony proposes to film you, watch you and listen to you, because "manual rating systems are flawed":

To guide consumers in their purchase, various rating schemes have been devised. Typically, these involve affirmative questioning of the users, and the use of their explicit input. Unfortunately, such an approach inevitably imports the biases of the users, and can lead to inaccurate or irrelevant ratings, because not all users are equally situated, and because haste, and sometimes deliberate dishonesty, factor into the rating session.

The patent is described as follows:

[A] Camera operates to observe the player during play, triggered to turn on when game play commences for instance. Facial recognition software, provided in camera or console , or even on a remote server such as rating server , serves to register various facial expressions and other behaviors of the player, in real time as the game is played. Expressions that can be registered include grins, grimaces, frowns, face contortions, looks of anger or astonishment, and the like. Each such expression is assigned a value that indicates a positive or negative experience and the degree of that experience at a particular point in game play. The values can be sent to ratings server through the network or stored on the console for sending at a later time when the conditions of network are more appropriate or the game deems more appropriate.

[...]

Other observational player data can also be collected. For instance, a sound recorder, integral with camera and/or console, can be used for voice recognition, to determine when expletives are used or when sounds or tones of contentment, triumph, anger or excitement are uttered. These incidents, measured in real time commensurately with game play, are also assigned various values indicative of their positive or negative nature and their degree. A user may shout “Hooray!” triumphantly upon defeating a foe in the game, for instance, and this can be detected and assigned a high positive value. Alternatively, the user can shout an expletive, which, if under expected circumstances, such as upon losing a life, may be assigned one negative value, while if under unexpected circumstances, as in uneventful game play, may be assigned a higher negative value as it may indicate boredom or lack of challenge or excitement. Other observational player data can include body position and posture and changes therein, along with various physical actions, such jumping up suddenly, flinging motions, and so forth.

So, the patent allows the camera to watch your emotions, as well as listen to you. However, these aren't the only things it could do:

The level of accuracy of the watching camera could be potentially incredible:

- Temperature of the player’s hands or face or other body parts (via an infrared camera for instance) as signs of stress, frustration or anger.
- Player’s gaze time for how bored they are to what is displayed on screen.

[...]

But the camera wouldn’t be the only thing used to work out exactly what you’re thinking. The patent mentions biometric controllers that measure your heartbeat and even sweat levels. This ties in to previous patents and rumors that the PS4 would have biometric controllers.

Using both these input methods, the console would also work out more personal aspects of your being, such as:

- Hair style recognized (large, long, afro, bald)
- Hair color
- Facial hair recognized
- Wears glasses
- Color of clothing
- Has an eye patch
- Wears earrings
- Wears facial jewelry (nose rings, etc)

Of course, keep in mind this is just a patent and might never see the light of day, but the fact that Sony is contemptating it, is just scary...

Check out the links below for more info about it!

NEWS SOURCE #1: Sony patents PS Skeyenet to watch your every move emotion (via) PlayStationLifeStyle
NEWS SOURCE #2: y2012 #0122592 (via) FreePatentsOnline

Our thanks to 'Gauss' for this news item!

[Diztructor]

lets see how many tards read this and jump on the wagon to kick off and fail to see that these features are not to spy on you but to make gaming safe for all, for example you dont want your child playing a game and been able to see some sick naked guy swearing his head off.

but wait i know most the tards will think its all some conspiracy to steal or invade your privacy... feckin tools.

[wewii]

Sony = Stupid.

If you were ever to buy such a thing... I'd call you brain dead.

[billysastard]

lets see how many tards read this and jump on the wagon to kick off and fail to see that these features are not to spy on you but to make gaming safe for all, for example you dont want your child playing a game and been able to see some sick naked guy swearing his head off.

but wait i know most the tards will think its all some conspiracy to steal or invade your privacy... feckin tools.

i actually kind of agree with you, assuming it can be turned off in households without children i really dont see this as any different to kinect doing its auto sign in thing (well assuming that it works better than kinect).