New technology enables the movie screen to watch you

posted by CSWalczak on November 10, 2010 at 7:45 am

HORSHAM, WEST SUSSEX, ENGLAND — A technology company here has received a grant to further develop an infra-red system behind movie screens to record audience facial expressions and other behavior in 3-D in reaction to films and ads. Supposedly being developed in the name of market research, concerns are already being raised about privacy concerns and the impact it could have on what films get made and distributed.

We’re not talking about a dumb clapometer-style system, either. The intention is to produce rich data that can measure the details of an individual’s face. Aralia will leverage 3-D face recognition technology that the university is already developing. When you sit in the audience of a theater with their system, you’ll be illuminated with an infra-red beam, and three or more cameras will continually monitor the crowd to create stereoscopic images—just like the 3-D digital cameras that are now launching on the consumer markets.

The full story is at Fast Company.