Sony granted patent for TV that only stop ads once you stand and say brand name (2020) | Hacker News Reader

Sony granted patent for TV that only stop ads once you stand and say brand name (2020)

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53 pointszekrioca34 comments

Looks like someone at Sony heard the old joke "please drink a verification can to continue and verify that you are <username> by saying 'Doritos Dew it right!'", which was about Xbox, and thought "this is kinda neat".

I really cannot believe I am reading this headline. Granted it is from 2 years ago, but still.

Can a 4chan copypasta be used as prior art?

This predates that, the patent is from 2009. The Reddit thread is from 2020.

Well, the reddit thread is referencing a 4chan post that is much older. Looks like this is a screenshot of the original post, from 2013: https://m.imgur.com/dgGvgKF

So the patent still predates the joke by a few years, but not by that much.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US8246454?oq=8246454

Unsurprisingly, Black Mirror comes to mind:

> Whilst in his room, Bing sees an advert [...]. He cannot afford the merits to skip it, and a high-pitched noise sounds when he looks away from the screens, so he must watch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifteen_Million_Merits

Charlie Brooker said in some interview that they sell their not-good-enough ideas to Samsung.

Found it:

What happens to the ideas/story concepts that are never made into a show?

CB: We sell them to Samsung.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jun/02/black-m...

The patent's [1] abstract:

> Methods, systems, and computer programs for converting television commercials into interactive network video games are presented. In one method, a broadcast or streamed commercial is accompanied by an interactive segment. A media player coupled to the broadcast or streaming media source identifies the existence of the interactive segment and presents the user with an enhanced and interactive mini-game commercial that can be played with other “viewers” in a common or disperse demographic.

[1] https://patents.google.com/patent/US8246454?oq=8246454

Can we call it a game if its forced on people?

Apparently engineers at Sony read 4chan green-text posts [1] and instead of realizing how dystopian it sounds, like something from a Black Mirror episode, go "Wow, that's amazing, we should do that" and then they file this patent.

[1]: https://i.imgur.com/dgGvgKF.png

I really hope the thought behind this patent was that no other company can do this so it hopefully won't become a thing? please.

More than likely, if it's like the other large corps that I've worked for, it was more like "hey, I get $500 for everything I patent. I'm patenting this."

I used to work with someone who had a nicely decked out Harley that was paid for from all his patent royalties in one year.

That's insane. Do they actually think they're going to sell any TVs containing this "feature"? Sure, they can make them, but... who's going to buy a TV like this?

AirBnB's and hotel chains who can now charge $5 less than their competitors (or pocket the $5) per guest because ad revenue is shared with them.

No, they don't think they will sell it. Filing for a patent does not mean they are going to do it.

I mean YouTube forces you to sit through some ads (sometimes they let you skip them), I suspect lots of people would be happy to skip the unstoppable ones by muttering the company name.

All Hail Big Brand™

If it becomes a market standard (due to ancillary revenues, reselling user data, etc), then the only choice consumers will have left are: (a) TV with ads or (b) no TV. "Voting with your wallet" has so many failure cases.

"That would never happen!"

Try buying a new car without touchscreen controls or software that controls the engine. It's still possible, but harder every year.

There is definitely a portion of the market that wants physical knobs, but one-size-fits-all is cheaper to make. Still, this seems like user segmentation that could present a commercial advantage, so I can't really explain this trend.

Related: Physical button on an Audi exists solely to upsell you on a software feature: https://www.thedrive.com/news/44967/audi-owner-finds-basic-h...

Welcome to the future.

> choice consumers will have left are: (a) TV with ads or (b) no TV

Like you can chose now between a smart TV or no TV?

Exactly. Thanks for the simpler example.

Dumb TVs are about $100 more.

You can also use a computer monitor, or just do what I do, and never give the TV access to the internet

All they need to do is introduce it progressively. Then it will be in most people's homes. The whole frog in a pot of boiling water thing has been working great for tech companies for the last 20 years.

Yes they will. We will rationalise it. “It makes the TV cheaper”, “you get used to it”, “I don’t mind the ads”…

Some companies incentive engineers to file patents, and this is the likely result.

It does not mean they have an intention whatsoever of actually doing it. It's just something they add to their portfolio of patents.

I wonder how many companies kite ideas like that out through the USPTO first to see how much blowback they get.

Political ads stop when you stand, say "Hail Leader", and sit down.

[Ads showing]

Viewer: "Sony"

[Ads stop]

Viewer: "...sucks!"

[Ads back]

This reminds me of our AR future! https://youtu.be/YJg02ivYzSs

This is just satanic as someone in the reddit comments said.

That's made my day. Patent for humiliation.

PLEASE RESUME VIEWING.

1984 via advertisement

I would return the TV immediately if they tried this crap. Shameful

You won't own it, it will be provided "free" in your Sony Living Quarters.

[2020]

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