Sound-Triggered Smartphone Ads Seek You Out

Repurposing the bus-tracking technology, Densebrain devised small beacons—designed to be hidden from view—that can be attached to shelves, and which emit inaudible, high-frequency sounds that trigger smartphone messages. The audio code can also be overlaid onto an existing audio track. As long as consumers have downloaded an app integrated with the technology, the smartphone will respond to the sound without user activation. In-store, the system could alert shoppers to special promos. At home, it could provide interactive content cued to TV shows. It could even have uses for live concerts and sports events. Sensitive to notification fatigue, the software does allow people to opt out of messages.

Just another intrusion on our privacy (and another thing to aggravate us). At least you have to actually download the apps for it to function.

Source

reply to post by KEMIK


This type of beacon ad will probably get bought and integrated into iAd or AdSense, therefore making it unavoidable. I hate ads, I hate seeing them, and I hate getting bombarded by them. This is all we need!

Meh give it four months or so, and there will be an adblocker plugin for this.

reply to post by Nobama


I hope so. I'm sure most people including myself are tired of getting bombarded by commercials, ads, spam, etc. It seems like the industry keeps engulfing every source it can. A 30min tv show is really 15 cause half of it are commercials. I can't wait to see how far this technology goes, and digs into our privacy.

Easy answer: Dont use a "smart" phone. Ive used the same $60 samsung "juke" for over 4 years... Im betting it makes calls exactly the same as the best and most overhyped $600 "smart" phone. In that time Ive never felt the longing to run some ridiculous app, text 900 times a day on a tiny keyboard, or surf the internet while driving. I guess Im just different from most people though

reply to post by CaticusMaximus

I like your style!! walk around the obstacles not in to them. Others are like flies on the doodoo.

reply to post by CaticusMaximus


Look familiar?

reply to post by KEMIK


Totally awesome dude!

Originally posted by CaticusMaximus
Easy answer: Dont use a "smart" phone. Ive used the same $60 samsung "juke" for over 4 years... Im betting it makes calls exactly the same as the best and most overhyped $600 "smart" phone. In that time Ive never felt the longing to run some ridiculous app, text 900 times a day on a tiny keyboard, or surf the internet while driving. I guess Im just different from most people though

What a perfectly wonderful answer and I'm with you 100% (although I have no choice but to use a Blackberry for business purposes, I've never downloaded an app myself and erased - or so I think - all preinstalled nonsense).

With that said, if your suggestion were ever to be considered and tried on a mass scale, I'm afraid that all of those FEMA camps they're supposedly preparing will need to be converted into addiction recovery camps to combat the massive techology withdrawal.