Microsoft May Give Achievements for Watching TV and Provide Ads by Monitoring You with Kinect

[Shawn Zipay]

Because I don't give a damn about if these rumors are true or not anymore, here's another one about the stupidity that might end up being Kinect for the Xbox One from Microsoft.

It seems as though Microsoft has a few patents in place for providing personalized ads based on the behavior of those watching TV. This patent was filed back in 2011 also includes the possibility of achievements for watching TV. The patent, on its own, certainly doesn't say that this will definitely be used with the Xbox One and Kinect, but why not just add more fuel to the fire, huh?

"Producers, distributors, and advertisers of the video content may set viewing goals and award a viewer who has reached the goals."

Achievement Unlocked! Sat through every season of Lost ten times, and still have questions remaining! Awards included could be anything from digital gifts, such as an avatar item, or third-party promotional items such as coupons.

Perhaps the most chilling part about this is that achievements or awards can be offered for watching just about anything as well as for "an action performable by the viewer." Yes, that means the Kinect would have to be actively watching your every move while you're simply watching TV and not actively engaged with the console.

You know what I say to this (if I may be so blunt)? Fuck that. If such a system is in place, that is far beyond most people's normal zones for privacy invasion. But hey, for now it's all just a simple rumor that it will actually be implemented.

(via Polygon)

[Anarchy1]

Is the monitoring that can be done by the Kinect even legal? It seems like it could be pretty invasive. I wonder if countries with stricter privacy laws will try to do anything.

[K-16]

I just want to state for the record that I always opt out of personalized ads. This includes Google ads, YouTube ads (which is Google again), Windows Live, and several others. I know I will still get ads, but I don't want anybody to know what I like, or what I've been watching for "longer than 30 seconds," or what my watch history is (I always clear out the history, or stop tracking the history if such an option exists like YouTube).

And to be honest, I'm unhappy with supermarkets tracking my purchases and getting me coupons for complementary items (I buy shredded asiago cheese just once, and next week I get several coupons on pasta, sauce, and chicken after scanning my loyalty card). I'd rather have random coupons, than have the supermarket know what I want and position the physical placement of their items in the damn store to my "likings."

My point behind all this is, I'm fully aware that this has been in my life for years now, but I never liked nor accepted any of it. So these patents make me feel uncomfortable and unwilling to adopt new Microsoft software and technology, including the Xbox One if this is the case. I'm also concerned how Sony will use their EyeToy/Move system, because I know nothing about it. I'm also curious to know what Nintendo's future uses of the Wii U Gamepad's camera will be. I know having a camera on all three consoles doesn't say anything, but I'm starting to fear next-gen technology now, rather than feel welcomingly excited about it...

As for countries with stricter privacy laws? Well... The real question is which countries have stricter privacy laws that are even relevant to this? America's Northern neighbor is apparently too busy trying to keep up with technology to even know how to send a message to control digital privacy (this is so recent I can't stop rolling my eyes). I hope the countries in the EU are better prepared for this without being hampered by any draconian laws.

[papasmurf128]

I think Notch said it well in the other story and it sums up almost everyone's feelings about the Xbox One saying he "wanted a game console, not a voice and gesture based TV remote box."

[SgtMattBaker]

There was a rumor (not that I read the article) that if this is true, Germany might ban the new Xbox.

[cikame]

If i point the Kinect at a wall because i think it's stupid... will i get adverts for paint?

[K-16]

There was a rumor (not that I read the article) that if this is true, Germany might ban the new Xbox.

The rumors seem to be coming from the article posted on Spiegel Online. We're going to need somebody who can understand German here, because I don't trust gaming websites reposting stories and giving their thoughts based on translations done by Google or Bing. However, there is no word on banning the console, but the telephone game has once again steered us into that conclusion (went from concern, to consideration of banning, to likely to be banned, all in a matter of hours; not talking about you by the way). Again, this is based on an article using machine translations for us to spread the word. This is the original. Can somebody confirm how accurate the machine translations are? I understand Google Translate does audit itself through corrections given by users, so I don't see any grammatical or context issues surprisingly enough.