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Your Kinect Will Count The Number Of People In The Room So It Can Charge You A Per-Person Rate

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posted on Nov, 7 2012 @ 08:41 PM
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You already knew your Kinect was watching you, but perhaps not like this. A U.S. Patent and Trademark Office filing by Microsoft reveals that the company is devising a means for your Xbox peripheral to count the number of people in the room and even identify who they are in order to assess licensing fees for content based on the number of people in the room.... It could even use facial recognition to determine the approximate ages of those people present and halt playback of mature material if there isn’t an adult present.

Your Xbox could then automatically collect fees for the number of people watching, or it could refuse to play the content until you top up your Microsoft Points account with an adequate sum--or until you kick all your friends out.



I don't own an Xbox and I've thought the kinect was creepy ever since seeing the nightvision video of the kinect I'm sure everyone here has seen and this seems like an even better reason not to get one.

It's only a patent but I bet we'll be seeing this technology being integrated into future xbox versions and the other applications for it are endless.

The direction technology seems to be going towards, constant tracking, ridiculous media licenses, and artificial restrictions and locking down of just about every device, including new computers, just to make some middle man provider (Microsoft's xbox market, netflix, apple's marketplace, amazon and so on) money for doing something the content creator could and should be doing directly.



posted on Nov, 7 2012 @ 08:48 PM
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Why is the night vision thing a reason not to get one? It's a very clever way of tracking movement.



posted on Nov, 7 2012 @ 08:51 PM
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Originally posted by SpearMint
Why is the night vision thing a reason not to get one? It's a very clever way of tracking movement.


You're right it is clever. It's mostly when I think about it watching me all the time. That, and the fact it recognizes you when you walk in and can distinguish you from others.

Facial recognition as an idea is interesting. It's the applications I guess that scare me.
edit on 7-11-2012 by dug88 because: (no reason given)



posted on Nov, 7 2012 @ 08:52 PM
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reply to post by dug88
 


My son has an xbox in his room. I have one in my room. I play on my sometimes. Mostly i use it to stream movies from the media slave i have set up on my living room TV, or to stream netflix over xbox live. Neither of us have Kinect (it came with his, we won it in a contest. we sold the kinect piece and kept the rest).

I couldn't make it without xbox as part of my household entertainment system. HOWEVER, i will not pay a per person fee for home entertainment.

And I doubt that is what will end up happening. Pricing models don't generally work that way. They would rather drive inclusiveness of participation, then sell you gobs of downloadable content.



posted on Nov, 7 2012 @ 08:53 PM
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reply to post by dug88
 


Soon they'll count the turds that drop into the toilet.
Its about time some of this spytec found its way into government buildings so we can keep an eye on THEM.



posted on Nov, 7 2012 @ 09:07 PM
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reply to post by dug88
 


I used to play nazi zombies all the time and anytime a person with kinect joined the party, I would leave and find someone else. a lot of people used them as mics instead of buying a headset and their would be distorted.
Ill never get a kinect, when I play video games, i like to set back and chill with a beer, not jump all over the place and run in place



posted on Nov, 7 2012 @ 09:11 PM
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Maybe they want the patent/copyright so someone else cant do it. Maybe they will play the good guy and just bury it away so if someone tries to do that they can stop them... Not trying to be naive just trying to see the good.



posted on Nov, 7 2012 @ 09:15 PM
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reply to post by dug88
 


Dug88,

The really scary thing is that the technology will be applied to all devices and you will not be able to use the internet without having been biometrically identified.



posted on Nov, 7 2012 @ 09:16 PM
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okay, so as a alternative lifestylist, who has no technology, lives in the woods and grows and hunts their own food, I was sort of wondering why anyone would even allow such a thing just so they could play a game. I mean that kind of personal invasion of your privacy seems a bit drastic just to play a game. I mean your are just pushing buttons and toggle switches to make imaginary images move on a screen and now someone is going to possibly have access to your rooms to determine and charge you according to the number of people viewing the screen? Is there so little for people to do in a city that you even consider allowing this by participating in it? sorry I obviously don;t get it.



posted on Nov, 7 2012 @ 09:17 PM
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Yeah, the kinect is a really cool utility. It can be used in many applications beyond gaming. I hope to read up on how it works and such, as I plan to build a quadcopter when I get some spare cash.


These guys rigged up a kinect to help their quadcopter identify objects and obstructions.


edit on 11/7/2012 by eXia7 because: (no reason given)



posted on Nov, 7 2012 @ 09:22 PM
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reply to post by dug88
 


Hey you think this is bad...

What about fire? Sure it lights up your room and provides warmth at night... but what if everyones house burns down?

Dangerous techonology i tells ya.....
edit on 7-11-2012 by Wertdagf because: (no reason given)



posted on Nov, 7 2012 @ 09:22 PM
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reply to post by AQuestion
 
In the olden days we did something that was called letter writing. We would actually hand write letters to each other and send it through the mail and it would show up three to five days later, and then we would write back and it was rather exciting to think that someone took the time to post it to you. We paid for a stamp to send it so I suppose they will impose some kind of "stamp" use for the internet everytime you use it. Back to letter writing for me, probably going to get rid of the phone later too. This of course means more quiet time, and actually having to talk to someone face to face and maybe actually going to each others house to do so.



posted on Nov, 7 2012 @ 09:27 PM
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Similar thread :

Next Xbox Kinect to be able to read lips, emotions, voices, capable of spying on the people.

Originally posted by wiandiii
www.tomsguide.com...

The article states that the Kinect 2 accessory will be capable of reading lips, deducing emotions, and voice recognition. It will be paired with the next Xbox system and there's a possible Windows version. If that is a feature in a game system, one can only assume this same tech is available for government or private use already. Considering malls wanted to track you by your phone, which just got shot down, maybe something like this could be there next try to market and advertise to you. I could also see the TSA installing something like this to look for "terrorists". What about those smart poles I've been reading up on? I'm sure this could be integrated into them as well to spy on the people. Accompanying links below.

consumerist.com...

www.tsa.gov...

hubstreetequipment.com.au...



posted on Nov, 7 2012 @ 11:27 PM
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Originally posted by bwcawaterbear
reply to post by AQuestion
 
In the olden days we did something that was called letter writing. We would actually hand write letters to each other and send it through the mail and it would show up three to five days later, and then we would write back and it was rather exciting to think that someone took the time to post it to you. We paid for a stamp to send it so I suppose they will impose some kind of "stamp" use for the internet everytime you use it. Back to letter writing for me, probably going to get rid of the phone later too. This of course means more quiet time, and actually having to talk to someone face to face and maybe actually going to each others house to do so.



Dear bwcawaterbear,

LOL, there is not going to be any post office. They are intentionally bankrupting them. Letters in the post office are protected, e-mails are not. By getting people to use e-mail, it is free, so, they stopped using the post office. Last year it was intended that 3,200 or so post offices would be closed. It has only been delayed. As for getting rid of your phone, that will be your method of payment and your login will be biometric identification.



posted on Nov, 8 2012 @ 06:32 AM
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Mine sits unplugged, collecting dust.

This is also only an issue if you buy their overpriced 'rental' movies anyway..



posted on Nov, 8 2012 @ 10:53 AM
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Originally posted by bwcawaterbear
reply to post by AQuestion
 
In the olden days we did something that was called letter writing. We would actually hand write letters to each other and send it through the mail and it would show up three to five days later, and then we would write back and it was rather exciting to think that someone took the time to post it to you. We paid for a stamp to send it so I suppose they will impose some kind of "stamp" use for the internet everytime you use it. Back to letter writing for me, probably going to get rid of the phone later too. This of course means more quiet time, and actually having to talk to someone face to face and maybe actually going to each others house to do so.



And walked to school uphill, both ways! In the snow! Technological progress is the devil!



posted on Nov, 8 2012 @ 11:15 AM
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It'll be on cell phones too

New Microsoft Patent Uses Kinect And Mobile Cameras To Count People In Your Living Room


From the patent:

A content presentation system and method allowing content providers to regulate the presentation of content on a per-user-view basis ... Consumers are presented with a content selection and a choice of licenses allowing consumption of the content. The users consuming the content on a display device are monitored so that if the number of user-views licensed is exceeded, remedial action may be taken.

The patent, submitted on April 26, 2011, and passed on Nov. 1, 2012, essentially allows the company to remotely turn on any cameras, be they mobile or from something like the XBox Kinect, and count the number of 'consumers' watching licensed content.

What Microsoft dubs 'complex algorithms' will not only count how many people are consuming that Mixed Martial Arts Championships, but also for how long they consumed the content, paving the way for charging users for half or even quarter uses of content.

From the patent:

In the case of the mobile display device, the display 105 is generally designed for use by one person but it is possible that more than one person may be able to view content on the display 105. As such the consumer detector uses data from the camera or capture device 102 to determine the number of consumers. In one example, camera 102 is an RGB imaging camera and the consumer detector analyzes one or successive images from the camera to ensure that the licensed number of users per view is enforced.

"Enforced" means the patent also gives licensers using Microsoft's surveillance 'product' the right to 'shut off' content if an unauthorized amount of users start to watch.

So you may want to tell the folks you invite over for the next fight to shut off their cell phones and remove the batteries prior to beginning the show






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