Microsoft Patent App Hints At Mood Sensing Ads

A new patent application for Microsoft has surfaced that hints at an advertising system they can sense your mood using the camera in the Xbox 360 Kinect. The idea is that the camera in the Kinect can be used to capture a person's reaction to viewing an advertisement. That reaction data could then be analyzed to help tweak ads to be more appealing to viewers.

I envision this sort of technology being used to watch people as they view things like ads before a streaming video. The technology will watch for details on the viewers mood to show that a commercial isn't appealing. Perhaps the person pitching the product is annoying or the product is of dubious value to you. In either case, the patent outlines a setting where the Kinect would know the ad was unappealing and wouldn't show it again.

I think one way to get people to watch advertisements rather than skipping or ignoring them is certainly to tailored ads to individual user tastes. However, I see people being concerned over privacy with the camera watching their every grin and grimace. What do you think, would this be something you would welcome to tailor ads more to your taste, or is it a simple invasion of your privacy?

[via DigitalTrends]