If you don’t want to be creeped out by the Xbox One Kinect sensor’s ability to track your every move in your living room, then don’t read about some of the ideas that Microsoft has been batting around for how to give viewers incentives to sit through commercials. Per Polygon, Microsoft filed a patent application back in 2011 that detailed how Kinect could watch viewers to make sure they’re sitting through commercials and then reward them with special “achievements” for watching a certain number of ads. Polygon says that getting a certain number of achievements might unlock awards that could include digital gifts, avatar enhancements or reward points.
Even more ominously, the patent says that Kinect “may be configured to track the viewing behaviors of one or more viewers,” and “may then compile one or more user-specific reports of the viewing behaviors,” which suggests that Microsoft will be keeping a database filled with users’ viewing profiles. It’s not clear that Microsoft plans to implement any of these features into Kinect, of course, but this patent filing certainly shows that the company is looking to get very creative when it comes to maximizing revenues from its new console.
