Intel's smart TV remote will recognize you, tailor content to your wishes
By Vlad Savov 
posted July 12th 2010 7:36AM
posted July 12th 2010 7:36AM
It's all about how you hold it, apparently. Intel's Labs have churned out a proposal for a new user-identifying system to be embedded into remote controls. Given a bit of time to familiarize itself with particular users, this new motion sensor-equipped channel switcher is capable of correctly recognizing its holder just by the way he operates it. Taking accelerometer readings every 100 nanoseconds, the researchers were able to build a data set of idiosyncrasies about each person, which would then be applied the next time he picked up the remote. Alas, accuracy rates are still well short of 100 percent, but there's always hope for improving things and for now it's being suggested that the system could be employed to help with targeted advertising -- which is annoying anyway, whoever it may think you are.
Would this remote auto-flip channels for me based on my idiosyncrasy?
what happens if i hold it wrong? :p
@nullifie
would be funny if the father of the house picks up the remote in front of kids and it suggests p0rn and the wife smacks him lol :P
Well this is great, every time you pick up the remote, it starts screaming "PR0N PR0N PR0N"..
@gargle
WTF is a "pr0n" ?
Leet speak sucks.
@pavelbure http://lmgtfy.com/?q=define+%22Pr0n%22
@pintonion That's badass. How do you create an "animated dumbass" link like that?
@dfrosted
lmgtfy.com
its a fun animated thing to make your fellow comment or forum users feel incapable of doing things themselves
@dfrosted
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=let+me+google+that+for+you
;)
God, I fucking Lol'd at the first line in the article.
@pintonion Yeah...soooo.... somehow this remote is both sweet and super fail...
how long does the battery last? 90 mins?
Bad ass!
Michael J. Fox does not approve.
That battery wouldn't last him very long.
Of all the ways to figure out who someone is, that seems like a TERRIBLE way to go about it. Why not via finger print or something else? Or voice recognition? Or I don't know, a little user screen on the front where you touch your name?
Cody
What about incorporating this tech into a phone as a biometric security measure. Combine with voice recognition and it might provide the necessary accuracy.
It's a trap!
Couldn't they just put a finger print scanner and keep it simple?
Nevermind this sort of "per user" catering.
How about this thing has some awareness of what room it is in and adjusts itself accordingly.
Instead of having x*y buttons to deal with x rooms and y AV components, how about it knows when it's in the living room and knows what to do when I power off the TV, change an input or increase volume?
The whole house PVR needs a better whole house remote.
God... get a microfiber cloth if your serious about touting this thing
@Rarebooks
I know. It's just filthy. Argh!
Good concept
Pass. I don't need an app for that. Part of the fun of TV is the ability to Veg out, period. I don't want a remote control to tailor my TV programming based on the last 5 shows that happened to be on. Screw that. I'd rather spend (waste) the time scanning through schedules and pick something out. It's not that hard to do.
In variably there is only one person in the household that knows how the AV equipment works. Even when using a smart remote like the Harmony, kids, the SO, company, get into trouble that pressing "help" doesn't always solve.
Now, how am I to debug, over the phone, what they did and tell them what to press when the functions are different from what I have when I use the remote.
Until we have smart setup, where all AV devices from all manufactures can communicate their capability with each other and negotiate their settings and responsibilities, we won't truly have smart remotes.
Too Bad the remote pictured is just the "premium" remote included with samsung's latest 9000 series LED tv's. (with the samsung logo blacked out)
http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/flagship/LED9000/indexB.html