This research could transform the user experience for those of you who sit at the computer while Corrie is on. Google are testing a system that can use the non-directional microphones built into most laptops and desktops to 'listen' to ambient audio coming from a TV and connect the viewer with services and related content on the Web.
Google propose to use this audio to enhance the user experience for the TV-watching/computer-using populace in four ways:
- Present personalized information related to the current program being watched
- Provide access to a social network (e.g. chat room or message board) of people, experts or friends watching the same program
- Allow users to rate a program and access demographics from previous ratings
- Use bookmarks to retrieve a program for later viewing or to mark it as a program of interest
So if you are one of the viewing public that watches Corrie with the computer on, you could: find out when the actress playing Leanne Battersby is due to have her baby, complain about the fact you never get to see enough of Nathan's torso with a mate online, give the episode a rating or bookmark it to view later if something better is on the other side!
But if your computer is listening to your TV, what else can it hear? The boffins at Google assure us that the, "viewer's acoustic privacy is maintained by the irreversibility of the mapping from audio to summary statistics". Their approach will not overhear conversations and the original audio will not leave the viewer's computer. Only the summary statistics of the audio are transmitted. A mute button will also give the user some control over what the computer listens to.
Unsurprisingly, this technology offers Google lots of potential to make money through advertising. Content providers or advertisers could bid for specific television segments and know when to adjust what they show as their material or the programs are rated.
Still in its research phase, this technology has still to be given a name and does not yet have a launch date. Viewers watch this space...
