Xbox One to feature biometric targeted advertisements

Now that both Microsoft and Sony have announced new platform offerings, details are starting to slowly emerge, and biometrics have come up in conversations more than once –most recently, in regards to the Xbox One and its use of facial recognition ad-targeting.

According to an interview in SickTwiddlers, through the system’s Kinect camera, ads can be targeted based on who is seen sitting in front of the console and is something the company has considered very seriously.  Dashboard advertisements are a core part of the Xbox experience.

Though the company says it receives minimal data through its Kinect camera, ads can be targeted based on age, gender and other demographics. According to an Xbox LIVE Advertising Developer quoted in the SickTwiddlers interview, the company doesn’t receive much biometric information collected by the Kinect, in order to preserve user privacy.

In the past few months it has also been reported that the new Xbox console can measure heart rate based on a user’s skin color and transparency, though how this will be used by the system has yet to be seen.

Reported previously in BiometricUpdate.com, Microsoft filed a patent last year for the Xbox, which also makes use of facial recognition. In the filing, facial recognition is used to facilitate a system in which players can join a game already in progress, just by entering the room.

Also last year, Microsoft filed a separate patent which outlined a biometric controller, which could be used for user authentication. 

Article Topics

biometrics  |  consumer  |  facial recognition  |  gaming  |  Microsoft  |  Xbox