Sony patents laughter detector

By Robert Purchese Published 17 August, 2009

PS3 will spot boredom, too.

Sony has filed a patent to protect its ideas about emotion detection using the PlayStation Eye.

The resulting device, according Siliconera, will know when you're laughing, bored, sad, angry, full of joy or interested. It even spots high-fives.

The PlayStation Eye does this by using a mixture of audio and visual feedback. If you are "looking away from the presentation, yawning, or talking over [it]" then you are considered bored, for example.

Sony mentions applying this technology to TV, film and other media presentations, too.

1

Look at his stupid face.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (50) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Fab4 #1 3 years ago

    They should license it to M$ for their GOD :-)

  • interceptor #2 3 years ago

    If it can sense boredom, then using it with Home will give some interesting feedback :)

    Seriously is anyone else really tired of hearing about all these peripherals?

    Apart from Nintendo's Simulated Horse Riding Peripheral which is just simply AWESOME hahahaha
    Edited by interceptor at 17/08/09 @ 10:31

  • BabyJesus #3 3 years ago

    "They should license it to M$ for their GOD :-) "

    Oh I see what you did there, how clever, especially the highly original M with a dollar sign for an S. I can almost see you now with a with a home printed Bill Gates mugshot from jail T-shirt.

    Yawn.

    Anyway, the industry is patent crazy these bloody days.

  • davisorle #4 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • interceptor #5 3 years ago

    "They should license it to M$ for their GOD :-) "
    "Oh I see what you did there, how clever, especially the highly original M with a dollar sign for an S."

    Ahh he's just jealous that Microsoft are successful and actually making money with their games division whereas Sony is losing it hand over fist ;)

  • Dizzy #6 3 years ago

    Sonylol?

    Ok ok... j/k...

    Seriously apparently this is not really for gaming... more for targeted ads on other Sony devices like TVs.
    Edited by Dizzy at 17/08/09 @ 10:39

  • El-Dev #7 3 years ago

    What game is that on the TV?

  • altitude2k #8 3 years ago

    I don't know how it can sense boredom. If I'm bored playing a game I'll just switch the console off and do something else. Switching the console off tends to inhibit it's ability to sense ANYTHING, unless the act of a power off constitutes as boredom...

  • sport #9 3 years ago

    How will it know that I'm bored if I never turn it on?

  • the_dudefather #10 3 years ago

    Ned Flander's Reneducation game coming 2010

    BIG SMILES EVERYONE!

    or else...

  • davisorle #11 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • Fab4 #12 3 years ago

    I'm jealous for a company I have no shares in making money over another company I have no shares in? Wow...what insight!! The truth is, I have both a 360 AND a PS3...imagine that. I also write M$ out of habit...one formed from having to use their OS's for so long.

    The truth of the matter is that the pricing on GoD leads to laughter...that or crying, which I never see much sense in.

  • Whizzo #13 3 years ago

    This has been a good month for comedy gaming patent pictures, first the Nintendo Horse Bag and now this.

    Awesome.

  • FritzYr #14 3 years ago

    Dosen't some Sony cameras allready have a feature that recognize if someone is smiling?

  • Bloodhunter #15 3 years ago

    Wow, no thanks, I dont want my ps3 saying whether I'm happy or not, I'm perfectly happy with the way games are now, WHY DOES IT HAVE TO GO ALL MOTIONEY.

  • schnide #16 3 years ago

    "PS3 will spot boredom, too."

    As if this wasn't asking for trouble..

  • mingster #17 3 years ago

    What the hell is that on the TV!!!!
    It looks like some kind of anal intruder.
    WTF!!!

  • Mortey #18 3 years ago

    Will it detect boredom whilst the PS3 is updating........again.....for another hour....just to add something it should have had in the first place....or somthing rubbish like photos.......or just to get on my wick just one last time.....Grrrrrrrr

  • jjolley #19 3 years ago

    This has some rather interesting narative potential. Imagine say a standup comedy act that reactively alters it's state relative to how happy or enthusiastic you're looking. Obviously MS have this sort of tech as well, but it's certainly interesting from a new media perspective because I can imagine a comination of this plus dialogue suggestions via menus. For instance, say from a detective work:

    "Mrs Merrium was found dead at exactly 3:35. [player smiles]
    "I was being serious. [different set of narative options appear]" [player looks bored]
    "Funny, you joined up to solve crimes, not be disinterested by them..."


    This sort of thing has interesting written all over it if applied correctly. The other interesting idea would be to combine this with say an FPS to stress urgency to team members. A combination of gestures and joypad input.

    Either way, i'm interested to see how this pans out.

  • Fab4 #20 3 years ago

    You're a fucking hypocrite anyway Babyjesus....

    "Drop the 120gb hd price, you tight bastards."


    Its not Oscar Wilde, but you basically make the same observation about M$ that I do, that they are a bunch of money-grabbing bastards. It must be wonderful air up there on your fucking high horse.

  • maximusfarticus #21 3 years ago

    "PS3 will spot boredom, too."

    Eurogamer In Sly Dig At Sony Shocker!

  • interceptor #22 3 years ago

    @Fab4

    Who the fuck mentioned shares? You don't have to have shares - if you're a console owner, you're a stakeholder in that console's success. No-one wants to own an unsuccessful console, surely?

    And of course Sony don't overcharge for their Vaio computers at all, do they? /sarcasm

    Perhaps you should also start writing $ony then in your wonderfully ironic way, considering they tried to charge people £25 for a Gran Turismo demo. That would certainly invoke laughter on this new PS Eye application....

  • M_of_the_sys #23 3 years ago

    How acurate will all this motion detection stuff be? I mean, would it be able to tell the difference between me grinning and me gritting my teeth?

  • dynarama #24 3 years ago

    What the hell sort of weird business is going on in that diagram???

    Presumably the figure on the screen represents Europe?

  • BabyJesus #25 3 years ago

    Well done Fab4 for taking a quote from a totally unrelated subject to another.

    You should be a journo for the daily mail.

  • Odessa #26 3 years ago

    Why should i buy a PS3 if i get bored of it? ;-)

  • SL33PY #27 3 years ago

    Does it detect hostilities too, 'cause I'm detecting some right in this comment thread

  • Fab4 #28 3 years ago

    Ohhh...how satirical, you've taken the popular idea that The Daily Mail is a low-life, Xenophobic ,hate-rag and attributed my comments with something that should be in there...touché, Sir! Touché.

    The fact still remains, you posted in a thread calling M$ a bunch of money-grabbing bastards (i'm paraphrasing here, don't take away my press pass)...hypocrite.

    Edit: I'm entering 'ignore poster mode' now, i'd suggest you do the same. We wouldnt want you to get offended and me not be able to see your outrage....heaven forbid.
    Edited by Fab4 at 17/08/09 @ 11:56

  • BabyJesus #29 3 years ago

    Fab4, I was commenting on the price drop for elites, by saying they should drop the price for the 120gb hd, I didn't say they were money grabbing bastards. That isn't paraphrasing is absolutely twisting what I said and what context I said it in, hence the Daily Mail comparison.

    The quote was ""Drop the 120gb hd price, you tight bastards." and you got all that, from that?

    You really are a tiresome fellow.
    Edited by BabyJesus at 17/08/09 @ 11:59

  • Burkey123 #30 3 years ago

    Would Nintendo stop with all these bloody peri........ Oh wait, my bad.

  • sneetch #31 3 years ago

    @schnide
    "PS3 will spot boredom, too."

    As if this wasn't asking for trouble..

    I know, it's like declaring that the comments thread will be a "Fanboy Trolling Contest". Still, oddly quiet so far. :)

    I'm pretty sure that other, existing systems do this already. I seem to recall a robotics program from years ago where some MIT people were showing a severed robot head that smiled and yawned when you did and so on (it was a bit creepy).

  • sneetch #32 3 years ago

    jjolley
    This has some rather interesting narative potential. Imagine say a standup comedy act that reactively alters it's state relative to how happy or enthusiastic you're looking. Obviously MS have this sort of tech as well, but it's certainly interesting from a new media perspective because I can imagine a comination of this plus dialogue suggestions via menus. For instance, say from a detective work:

    "Mrs Merrium was found dead at exactly 3:35. [player smiles]
    "I was being serious. [different set of narative options appear]" [player looks bored]
    "Funny, you joined up to solve crimes, not be disinterested by them..."

    That sounds really interesting and has great potential but I think I'd prefer it when you're playing yourself rather than a specific character, if you know what I mean, I don't want to be lectured by some NPC because I laughed at the in-game joke or something someone in the room said but if my character in say an MMO or some online game smiled or yawned or laughed when I did that could be great for those games.

  • altitude2k #33 3 years ago

    Sony feel the need to introduce a boredom detector for the PS3 - whereas a boredom detector for the 360 would be a waste of resources.

    Discuss...

    EDIT:

    There really needs to be a sarcasm typeface or something on here, because it seems to go over the head of a lot of people.
    Edited by altitude2k at 17/08/09 @ 16:10

  • Skurmedel #34 3 years ago

    Wonder what happens if you exhibit no emotion at all. If you would sit perfectly still, not smiling, frowning or anything, what would the game make out from that? Of course, Natal has the very same problem.
    Edited by Skurmedel at 17/08/09 @ 13:18

  • schnide #35 3 years ago

    Here's an idea. You have software called 'a game' and you press buttons on something called a 'joypad' which lets you control the on-screen movements of said software. I don't know if anyone's thought of it yet, but I'd get a patent out there quickly because it's only been good enough for me for the past twenty years and I reckon there's money in it.

  • mcmonkeyplc #36 3 years ago

    Is this like the .Jizz format?

    [link url=http://www.mcmonkeyplc.blogspot.com
    ]http://www.mcmonkeyplc.blogspot.com
    [/link]
    Edited by mcmonkeyplc at 17/08/09 @ 13:56

  • JensonJet #37 3 years ago

    schnide,

    I don't know what planet you're on, but all this crazy talk of 'joypads'!, 'games'! and 'buttons'! is clearly some deluded fantasy you have. We all know consoles are for exercise, replicating sports and training of the brain. I love swinging my arms around and jumping up and down in front of my console. This 'buttons' device you speak of just wouldn't work... how do you swing a button? How do you jump on a button? Will a button train my brain? Will a button know if I'm smiling?

  • Domovoi #38 3 years ago

    Alright, there's not nearly enough trolling here. Let me try:

    "You can tell if the PS3 detected boredom by the burning power light."

  • Spekingur #39 3 years ago

    Just as long they won't be able to patent laughter itself then the rest of the world will be okay.

  • maximusfarticus #40 3 years ago

    @Domovoi

    You're right, definitely need some more trolling, how's this:

    I'm going to patent a console that detects if you're a fucking idiot, displays some sort of idiot sign, maybe a red ring or something, and then permanenly shuts down.

    Oh wait.....

  • ejikeanyanwu #41 3 years ago

    this may be useless but..
    Anyone notice that TV isn't plugged to the PS3?

  • CaoSlayer #42 3 years ago

    I would be more impressed if they had invented a sarcasm detector.

  • Arwin #43 3 years ago

    Talking about laughter, did anyone spot the WET commercial on eurogamer, with the phrase COMING firmly placed over the crotch area of the female protagonist who has her mouth open and her head tilted backwards? I wonder what would have happened if they focus-tested that commercial with laugh detectors ...

  • jjolley #44 3 years ago

    at sneetch:

    I understand what you're saying about lecturing NPCs. These things I suggest are just ideas and probably very unusual. Coming from an interactive fiction background, the concepts here interest me on many levels. I think the technology would supplement the experience, not replace a joypad a la natal. The prospect for in theory, better NPC interactivity are quite interesting, but I suspect many devs will use the technology badly or tack it on. My idea regarding the comedic NPC related more to the film side. If Sony want to use this kind of thing in film/media, the gestural stuff could offer something different.

    One possibility for me as a blind person, you know how some films have audio description in them? Perhaps, if it tdetects i'm unsure of what's happening by perhaps me waving or turning the other way, this could enable the description. Very simplistic but has some interesting applications.

    Thanks for replying however.

  • mkreku #45 3 years ago

    But what if this thing, everytime it senses my bored face, instantly conjures up some naked girls on the screen? It could be the best invention EVER!!

  • Bravestinsane #46 3 years ago

    Anyone else like the picture....

    oh i love the times i watch tv and laugh and while laughing pointing at the tv to show to everybody that im not sitting with what im actually laughing at because no one else actually finds it funny before realising that it's not actually funny and i don't understand why i am even pointing and laughing at the tv because now i look like a twat....full stop deep breath =)

    ...

    On a serious note bring it on, ramp up the competition for microsoft and lets start making good games and what not out of all this new patened stuff. Stop blowing your trumpets and give it to us.

    Personally i think this is good news on both Sony and Microsofts part. Sony are now competing and Microsoft will have to make something really special. Can only be good news for gamers.

  • whoelse #47 3 years ago

    Isn't this similar to what Natal is supposed to have?

  • TopKatt #48 3 years ago

    ^ Ah, but Natal can tell if two poeple sitting side by side are both bored at the same time, will the PS3 be able to do that?

  • Marshall2008 #49 3 years ago

    hmm..
    Edited by Marshall2008 at 18/08/09 @ 08:26

  • JammyPez #50 3 years ago

    LOL