"Reaction [beta]"
Listen to this... 5 Sep 2006
The idea originally appeared in Technology Review citing Google's Director of Research, Peter Norvig, who claims that these ideas will soon show up in Google products.
The technology works by using your PC's built-in microphone to listen to whatever can be heard in the background - for example, music playing on your radio or the flim you're watching on TV. The software breaks up this audio into five-second snippets, reducing it to a series of "digital fingerprints" that it can match against information stored in its database. Once the fingerprints have been matched, Google will be able to show you relevant content - be it adverts, search results, or a chat room on the subject.
It goes without saying that this raises some interesting privacy issues (especially given the brouhaha surrounding AOL's recent slip). How long will it be before spyware takes control of our mics? And how soon will they progress to our webcams?
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8 comments so far
redg 7 Sep 2006 10:53 PM
amazing... big brother is really here! Now that Corporate fascism is the government of the world where can we move to? :(
Carlos Eduardo 8 Sep 2006 01:45 PM
Just... Amazing!
But I'm afraid, lol... I dunno what they (people from Google) can do... o_O
Dan Jones 8 Sep 2006 03:00 PM
I can see why advertisers would like this technology, but I'm not sure that there are benefits for users.
There's often no link between what's going on in the background at my house and my own personal preferences. For example, I often work in the living room while my girlfriend watches TV. In this situation, it sounds like Google would conclude that I like the same TV shows she likes (big mistake!) and would pester me with invitations to visit the Desperate Housewives website while I'm trying to get important stuff done. That would really annoy me!
Ryan 8 Sep 2006 04:17 PM
My thoughts are along the same line as Dan's, but I don't see how this is useful for anyone, including advertisers. It would only work for computers that not only have mics, but mics that are on. Furthermore, a TV would have to be close enough for it to pick up the sound clearly enough to analyze. Even with all these conditions present, if the user on the computer cared much for what was on TV, they'd be watching TV! I'm baffled on how this would ever be a worthwhile project.
Caleb 8 Sep 2006 05:19 PM
It will never happen, but if it did I would like to see the ads it pulls up when it catches a husband and wife arguing. I could see ads popping up for divorce attorneys and semi-automatic weapons.
Kyle 9 Sep 2006 12:51 AM
Caleb, semi-automatic weapons? Give me a break.
Fred 12 Sep 2006 09:28 PM
Be sure I'll keep my microphones unplugged in the future... I don't understand why theres things are actually legal....
Donald 13 Sep 2006 06:15 PM
Like most technology that begins innocently enough . . . I am sure that the surveillance potential of this is not lost on the powers that be . . . that may be its "higher calling"