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Tech

Revealed Patent: A Cable Box that Watches You Watch TV

There's a quiet movement afoot by some of the country's leading communications technology companies to sell you a television or cable box that watches you while you watch TV.

There's a quiet movement afoot by some of the country's leading communications technology companies to sell you a television or cable box that watches you while you watch TV. That way, service providers can target ads more…effectively? Intrusively? Privately? I'm not sure. Maybe all of the above.

The latest innovation of this idea to come to light is a patent Verizon filed in 2011 -- it was publicly released in late November, as per the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's 18-month rule. Verizon's patent application describes a DVR laced with webcams and microphones that watch and listen to its surroundings, i.e. you, in your underwear in your living room, drinking a Budweiser and watching Gossip Girl.

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The device would be able to identify you through facial recognition software, and register the things it sees in your living room. So, if you're drinking a Bud, you'll get ads for Budweiser. If the cams see a dog, you might see more pet food commercials.

But wait, there's more. Drilling down into the gory details of Verizon's patent gives a clearer and, dare I say, scarier glimpse of the company's vision and intentions. If your new Verizon DVR detects a couple "arguing/fighting with each other [it] may select an advertisement associated with marriage/relationship counseling." Or, if it sees you and your loved one "cuddling on a couch" it would bring up ads for condoms and flowers. It's even got the potential for ascertaining people's "moods" and pitching viewers who appear stressed "aromatherapy candles, a vacation resort, etc."

Verizon isn't the only one trying to capitalize on your intimate moments at home. Comcast filed a patent in 2008 for monitoring technology for similar purposes. The device would recommend TV programs to people it recognizes -- not through facial recognition but through your body form -- and block children from seeing shows their parents don't want them to see. Comcast senior vice president Gerard Kunkel told GigaOm that the technology is the "Holy Grail" of tailored advertising technology.

Google hopped on the bandwagon as well with Google TV. The media giant filed a patent in 2007 on "an image capture device (e.g., digital camera, video recorder, etc.) that can be used to measure how many viewers are watching or listening to a broadcast." The idea is to gauge the popularity of certain shows to certain households. Lenovo showcased a TV outfitted with Google webcams at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this year.

The technology outlined in these patents isn't on the market yet, but they give a pretty clear indicator about how media providers aim to get into our heads and homes. Remember how DVRs promised a future without commercials? Well, now we may have to pay for those good years with a future in which ads are more seamlessly intrusive than they've ever been before.