Future Intel TV Box Will Recognize Your Face To Serve Ads

Intel has tried before to make a new TV platform, and that was Google TV. But alas, that venture did not prosper as much as Intel or Google has wanted it too. This hasn’t disheartened Intel, however, as the chip giant is reported to be making another TV platform and this time, it’s got some new tricks up its sleeves.

According to a report from Reuters, the Santa Clara, California-based tech powerhouse is planning a new TV box which will, simply put, identify your face to serve targeted ads.

“Intel’s offering aims to exploit one of the TV industry’s major issues: the reliability, or lack thereof, of Nielsen ratings data on audiences. Nielsen has long been the dominant provider of TV ratings, but the accuracy of its data has come under attack by some network programmers, who argue that its polling system of 50,000 homes is antiquated for the digital age,” Reuters said in its report.

This means that the new Intel TV box will have face-recognition technology right in your own living room. This has us asking whether we’ll want a new TV box which can recognize our face. That’s a sort of invasion of our private space, if you follow our line of thinking.

However, Intel has tried to allay such fears saying that the TV box will not identify people, Reuters says. It will only provide general data about the gender and age group of the viewers. With such an advanced technology that recognizes age and gender, however, can’t it recognize faces and tie them with names on a database?

The idea is novel as it would really offer advertisers the chance to target the market they intend to target. It could also be used to not show TV shows of sensitive content to a younger age group. However, Intel needs to convince us further that the technology won’t lead to some form of alarming invasion.

Meanwhile, Intel is revealed to have more than us, the consumers, to convince. According to the report from Reuters, the company is having a hard time convincing content makers to license their works for the new TV platform.

“The biggest problem Intel faces is its inability to reach deals with major content providers, which are reluctant to license their networks and TV shows at rates that could undercut their larger established cable and satellite partners,” Reuters reports.

So this new TV platform may be far off, or may not materialize at all. Intel is throwing its weight into the matter, however, as it has enlisted veteran negotiators to convince content gatekeepers to license shows to them.

What do you think about this new set-top box Intel is proposing? Tell us more in the comments below.

Images 1 & 2 from Mike Turner & Gonzalo Díaz on Flickr (CC)

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