I direct you to figure 17: “Ha Ha Ha.” This is part of the metadata set going into the PS3, through a microphone and the PlayStation Eye camera. The patent application says it would identify body gestures, facial expressions and the like to deduce the emotion of the players. It’s apparently got high-five recognition heuristics, too.
Laughter and boo-yah aren’t the only states of emotion it’ll be able to recognise. It’s also attuned to sadness, anger, joy, interest and yes, boredom. That one can be detected by the number of hours your PS3 sits deactivated.
Also, note how the diagram filed goes out of its way to show the TV’s a Sony Bravia.
SCEA Experimenting With “Laugh Detecting”, Emotional Tracking Software [Siliconera via Joystiq]
Dr_Stef
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 8:08 AMheheheheheheh
warcroft
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 8:29 AMHow fucking stupid!
Olly
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 8:41 AMAnd I direct you to figure 21. Exactly what kind of “crazy invention” is that?
They could have just put a lolcat, but decided to haunt my dreams forever.
Thank you Sony.
Matfei
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 9:41 AMLooks like some kind of odd sexual device to me, hehe.
mark
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 10:16 AMThats what I thought… looks like some kind of perverted sexual device!
Thats just wrong ….
Also… could this patent be used to block some functionality of Microsofts Natal thingy? It uses camera and mic to detect emotion and so forth right? I know this specifies for use with TV broadcast, but it may still apply to certain area’s…
Dean
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 11:28 AMSony are a Japanese company after all…
DansDans
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 9:47 AMWTF?
Scott Vandonkelaar
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 9:47 AMWhy would it need the Playstation Eye AND a microphone? The Playstation Eye has a microphone built in… I assume it was divided into 2 parts for the sake of the patent and pointing out that it uses both the camera and microphone in order to operate.
I can see them wanting to tie this technology into the TV Tuner when ever it finally gets released. Looks like a great tool for automated market research.
Dean
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 9:49 AMSo this is a way for TV executives to determine how their audience is responding to programs? Call me paranoid, but I don’t leave my PS3 on while I’m watching TV anyway – and this is just all the more reason not to!
Also, if I invent a similar apparatus, but I DON’T use a Sony® Bravia® TV, does that mean I’m not actually violating this patent?
SammyC
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 12:22 PMDean, you’re paranoid x2
Stinky
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 12:56 PMButthurt, the game?
AJ Lazaro
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 10:07 PMDon’t laugh high school look for it on youtube, funniest Japanese game show, hope they make that inro a game.