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TV People Meter: Monitoring What You Watch
bj3g2j writes "CNN has an interesting article about the People Meter that is built by Arbitron. It seems that the device is portable and picks up on signals sent from the TV (and/or radio) to determine what people are watching. This is supposed to improve the accuracy of tracking viewer habits. The best quote is that 'it includes a motion detector to verify someone is actually wearing it.' Lots of motion while sitting on the couch? Interesting concept in light of the recent ruling in California."
What about stores like best buy/circuit City, they have a lot of tvs on one channel and lots of people moving..
Carpe meam simiam!
Who would voluntarily put this on their TV? I know the rating devices that're used now are used voluntarily, but I don't think people would like a motion detector on their TV.
Telescreens a la 1984?? Stuff like this freaks me out, there is no need for the TV to be a two way device, it was meant to be one way, the signal goes out, no need to get info back, trying to build functionality into a system like this is playing with fire.
ahh, the egg in the basket..
Will this device make sure that your eyes are open during the commercials, so that you won't be accused of stealing?
Is this the same technology used to catch people who aren't paying the Telly Tax in Britain?
AC
I'm scared that the article mentioned that my PVR habits are being monitored. As well, the guys using this monitor your habits outside of the house - consider if one of your friends comes over and watches TV with you using this device.
I will get one of these as soon as possible. Currently I don't watch very much TV because I feel that the content is only loosely relevant to me. I would watch a lot more TV if stations were able to accurately target me with programs that I would like, based on the viewing habits of mine that they've observed.
I don't really see how this could be bad. I trust that the TV companies won't misuse the information they receive. Most likely, their doing so would constitute a serious breach of contract (as I assume there is an accompanying sheaf of paperwork in order to become eligible to use this).
While I imagine many people here will tear their hair out while bleating about large companies invading privacy, these people need to get a reality check. Not everyone cares if some nameless faceless person at company X knows you watched some porn last night, and most people would appreciate the service that company X could provide with that information.
visit the hwky website for a lyrical genius infusion.
Well, this is only for sample data collection, people. For the advertisers to survey what people are watching and to put their money into it. The article says it's based on sex and age group groups as their demographic partitions but who knows ...
Imagine if we could vote by pushing buttons on the remote controller. I bet that would make people vote more often and prevent racist nazi bastards like Le Pen from getting so much power and publicity.
When ordinary people stop voting only the fringe elements like the far right and left will benefit.
Seems like this is the same idea as a device
that's been used in Britain for maybe 30 years.
In UK, about half of TV broadcasting is paid for
by the purchase of Television receiver licenses.
Unlicensed TV's are therefore illegal and vehicles
equipped with Television detectors drive around
trying to nail offenders.
They work (IIRC) by picking up stray signals
emitted by the intermediate frequency generator
inside the TV. They can even detect which
channel a TV is tuned to and which room it's in.
www.sjbaker.org
Research on this kind of stuff has been done for a while. About 10 years ago I remember reading about how Nielsen was working on a camera-based system that would use face recognition to identify which family member was sitting in front of the TV. That is, is the 5-year-old kid in the family watching, or the parent?
This would help them eliminate spurious data on their Neilsen families, and get a little more -- like find out whether or not the little kid likes to watch Nightline, or Sesame Street.
It was actually kind of cool research. I'm curious if anything ever came out of it.
This IS NOT Big Brother, by the way. Do not jump to the typical Slashdot conclusion that THE MAN wants to track what you're watching.
Porno flick tonight
Young couple in love
Motion sensor pegs.
Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
See my user info for links.
Wow. Quite literally "Spy Wear"
You need a FREE iPod Nano
The gadget requires nothing of participants other than to wear it during the day and place it in a home docking station each night so data can be collected and transmitted to Arbitron.
Where can I sign up to get one today?
The coolest system I've seen to track when people are in front of a TV uses both a motion sensor and an electic field sensor to find out if people are there - moving or no. It was part of some really expensive home automation project.
And this will be small enough to be included in the mandatory National IDs. It'll be a boon to the television industry. Mmm... instant "tickets" whenever we fast forward. Or time shift. Or blink.
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
There was also more information on viewing and listening by young males -- a key demographic group for advertisers -- who are notoriously sloppy about recording their habits in diaries, Mocarsky said.
Maybe once this thing comes into wide use, geek-oriented shows will get the ratings they should be getting and we won't constantly have to bemoan their cancellation.
~Philly
It's very simple, I want this in my TV because I want to skew the results as easy as I can. I want the "Star Trek Marathon watching" demographic to skyrocket.
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
I have copyrighted all of the electronic emissions
eminating from my house. I charge for this information.
These guys are building circumvention technology
and I am gonna sue under the DMCA!
Man, we really need copyright protection built
into all digital devices!
Television is not for your benefit.
Take it from a guy in commercial radio. Arbitron only deals in radio ratings and internet radio webcasts. That's it. There's no TV tracking going on with Arbitron, no matter what the story says. They've done the diary thing for years, and now they're looking at a better way to track RADIO LISTENING. Your TV watching habits are safe. This entire process also requires the stations in the TSA (Total Survey Area) to have special encoders for the stations to be picked up by the PPM. If a station doesn't have the encoder, they're not picked up. Sucks for low-budget stations, huh? Nielsen could use a PPM if it needed to, and I'm sure they're considering it. However, they'd probably be better off using set-top boxes like they've been trying out. Just remember the following equations: Arbitron = Radio Nielsen = TV.
it includes a motion detector to verify someone is actually wearing it
This is excellent! Now cable companies can successfully monitor when their viewers go to the bathroom and can recoup lost damages due to copyright infringment! This will save the industry billions!
Isn't Haiku 5-7-5? Yours is 5-5-5...
Porno flick tonight 5
Young couple in love 5
Motion sensor pegs. 5
Often in Error, Never in Doubt.
If only someone like AllAdvantage (of course they're dead) picked up on this...
Flash of insight! Put it on your cat and tie him/her to the TV while it's tuned to Jerry Springer!
I'm the Devil the Windows users warned you about.
Yeah, but the cute pun in the second stanza makes up for it.
Maybe then "Futurama" would get to stay on the air while crap like "Everyone Loves Raymond," "Dark Angel," and "Politically Incorrect" would fade into the electronic dustbin of history .
It's not the existance of the technology,itw what's done with it.
I do security
Ok, so now to skew the results, I put one of those water-drinking toy ducks in front of the motion detector, and turn on Oprah. There you go, skewed results.
Now the only thing that I may be in danger of, is Arbitron thinking that my wife really loves to give head when Oprah is on...
http://www.citypaper.com/2001-01-31/feature.html
Didn't we also have a story about a year ago that described a watch that was worn by the user (instead of this pager device) that did the exact same thing? I can't find it at all.
It sounds like you're not crazy about the mainstream crap that is so common on TV.
Problem is, if everyone had these devices, it would simply confirm to the networks that the majority of people liked that mainstream crap, and that people like you are in a tiny minority. Hence, they wouldnt waste money on creating non-mainstream, decent shows - they would spend their money on catering to mainstream tastes, to maximize profits, and niche markets be damned.
This same trend it evident in the music industry - the record companies don't bother taking risks with esoteric, semi-decent music - they stick to generating the sort of cliched tripe that they know will sell en masse (n sync, limp bizkit etc).
I trust that the TV companies won't misuse the information they receive
I honestly can't say for a moment that I trust any large corporation not to misuse the information they'd receive. In fact I can't think of any big corporations that wouldn't eagerly engage in something scummy if it means making more money. As an example, I have fairly strong evidence that a local very large, reputable financial firm that I have an investment policy with illegally sold my personal information - to a bulk emailing company, of all places (and thats just the one I know about). From Enron to Microsoft to Oracle, corporate execs will obviously do anything for a quick buck.
And cover up the motion sensor, problem solved
"The United States has no right, no desire, and no intention to impose our form of government on anyone else." - Bush 05
As to the Big-Brother aspects of the thing, Arbitron says this to broadcasters:
- Measuring Compliance
So they know when you've been sleeping. They know when you're awake. They know if you've been bad or good. So get out there and consume.Compliance began with undocking the meters each day. We instructed panelists to undock their meters first thing in the morning and dock them in the recharging unit at bedtime. During November, the median undocking time on weekdays was 7:39AM, and the median docking time was just after 11PM. As expected, the undocking time was later on the weekend, around 9:00AM, as people tended to sleep later. The docking time was also later, 11:25PM, as people stayed up later (Figure 2). The PPM detects encoded media even while it is in the recharging unit, which means it picks up the clock radio in the morning and late-night TV viewing by people in bed.
The system covers TV as well as radio. Arbitron is partnering with Neilsen on this. The details are:
(As of July 18, 2001, in the Wilmington, Delaware test area)
Of the 71 media outlets invited to participate, 63 are now encoding their audio full time.
The Arbitron Portable People Meter listens to audio, has a DSP, "extensive storage", and an uplink system via its docking station. So it could potentially be used as a bugging device if reprogrammed. One more small step towards the surveillance society.
At least the current model doesn't have a GPS.
Winston kept his back turned to the telescreen. It was safer; though, as he well knew, even a back can be revealing. A kilometer away the Ministry of Truth, his place of work, towered vast and white above the grimy landscape. This, he thought with a sort of vague distaste - this was London, chief city of Airstrip One, itself the third most populous of the provinces of Oceania . . . For some reason the telescreen in the living room was in an unusual position. Instead of being placed, as was normal, in the end wall, where it could command the whole room, it was in the longer wall, opposite the window. To one side of it there was a shallow alcove in which Winston was now sitting and which, when the flats were built, had probably been intended to hold bookshelves. By sitting in the alcove, and keeping well back, Winston was able to remain outside the range of the telescreen, so far as sight went. He could be heard, of course, but so long as he stayed in his present position he could not be seen. It was partly the unusual geography of the room that had suggested to him the thing that he was now about to do...
3000 people, thats how many.
how many die from the flu every year?
how many from car accidents or just our good old legal drug alcohol
If I were an advertiser, I wouldn't be convinced that no-motion in front of television means anything.
People that are zoned in on the television (and are therefore not moving all that much/often) seem more likely to be imprinted with advertising than are those who are more active while the television is on (indicating that they are probably not paying any attention at all.) I know if I am moving in front of the TV it's usually because I'm not paying any attention at all.
And if the room lights are off, how does the motion sensor not detect the blinking lights of the TV as motion?
If you choose to sign up to be a subject, they give you one of these gadgets. They track what you watch, they use it to generate program ratings. End of story. The fancy electronics helps them estimate how attentive you are. I'd imagine that there is some renumeration involved as well.
I see nothing wrong with this. I wouldn't volunteer, but then no one is making me.
TechTV is running the "Based on a true story" series, "Max Headroom"
YES! my master plan can now begin! strap the sensor to the dog and/or ferret and leave the tv on only when there is a CHIPS marathon on FX! NOW I WILL CONTROL THE MINDs OF THE YOUTH... corperations and MTV FEAR ME! FEAR ME! MWA HAHAHAHA
[o_o]
This "high tech" device doesn't seem quite in keeping with the times. I don't watch commercials anymore. Their billions of advertising dollars never reach me. I do, however, watch a handful of television shows. I would be willing to pay a fee to keep these shows on the air. I'm not sure if viewer subscriptions could match the money advertisers currently throw at the networks, but I'm pretty sure something has to give. Of course, I AM a criminal by avoiding the commercials. Probably better to ignore me and my money, since I'll be locked up soon and the government will seize my assets to pay the network moguls.
A steaming cup of soykaf would be real wiz right now.
can listen to audio, has a DSP, extensive storage and internet access. So it could potentially be used as a bugging device if reprogrammed. One more small step towards the surveillance society.
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If I were wearing this device, I wouldn't want Arbitron recording what I hear in traffic as a positive vote for any of these mega-watt car stereos going "BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!" Now, if that car went "KA-BOOM!", that would be entertainment value! So, if this became widespread, different stations would rig up these "blasters" in cars, vans, trucks, to drive around in traffice and annoy the other drivers, just to pump up their ratings.
When watching TV, I tend to use the commercials to use the bathroom or get something from the kitchen or frig. With the SonicBlue court decision, am I stealing programming by not watching commercials? AdCritic was fun to watch while it existed; it only "aired" funny, or interesting commercials. My wife will flip to another channel and forget to flip back to the original.
Unfortunately, creativity with commercials is non-existant with regular programming.
... the "item to item" communication system to identify where things are and what there doing (article titled "The Next Tech Revolution"), the tv system to find out what your watching, and the big tv networks complaining about people "stealing" shows by not recording the adverts (artical about PVR, yesterday I think).....
what the hells going on in this world!?
They want to know more about us; PRIVACY dammit PRIVACY!
If they want to know what Im watching, ask me! Dont spy on me! Dont check to see if Im in the room! Dont ask my contact lens what Im looking at! And dont you ever dare touch My Recorder!
sheesh Im not liking this at all.....
3000 people die a year from drug related crime.
3000 people could be saved by putting dealers out of business. its pretty easy logic, 3000 people are murdered by drug dealers to protect their business, high profit motive promotes this behavior. Dealers cant stay compete against corporations.
I'm afraid they'll discover me for the loser I am. I just hope none of these Spyware people read this. They might program a lockout onto the TV just for me and then I'd be pissed.
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
Imagine that in order to watch tv/listen to the radio/... you need to be wearing one of these devices. Televisions would listen for a signal sent out by the device (which would only broadcast when worn). No signal then no picture.
You know that RIAA and MPAA are greedy enough that they've probably already thought of this.
You DO understand that this sort of thing is VOULANTARY, don't you? It's just like Neilsen TV monitoring. They'll ask you if you'd like to participate. Then they either send you a diary that you fill out on what you watched, or they hook a monitoring box to your TV. It's not like they kick in your door and force you to do this, they ask you to, and I believe you are compensated for your trouble. This is the same thing, if you don't like it, tell them no if and when they ask you if you'd like to participate.
How many times am I going to have to explain this:
THESE THINGS ARE VOLUNTARY. They are not going to be included in anything. What happens is the ratings firm, like Neilsen, asks you if you'd like to participate (they do this already) as a Neilsen home and have your viewing habits monitored. Now currently they either give you a diary, and ask you to fill it out, or they hook a monitoring box to your TV. This device is just a more accurate way to gague what you watch. Don't want it to know what your doing at a given time? Leave it in it's charger. Don't want it to know what you're doing at all? Say no, you don't wish to participate.
You don't HAVE to be a Neilsen home. They asked me, but where I lived at the time it was journals, and I wasn't willing to spend the time filling it out so I told them no. Actually, I just never responded to them, but same difference.
Most people WANT to participate, since then what you watch controls what is on TV. The Neilsen rating are one of the most important things in determining what happens to shows on TV. If you have a Neilsen unit, your viewing habits have a direct infulence on what shows stay and what ones go. That means what you like to watch, gets higher ratings.
So, if you don't like this, just stuff the Neilsen letter in the trash if they happen to send you one. They don't care, they just ignore you and find someone else.
Cable companies already have a box in most homes. Why they don't use these to track watching habits I'll never know. I'm sure a lot of people would sign a waiver to have their television watching habits tracked for $10 off their cable bill.
More accurate data is also already gathered by Tivo. People Meters and Nielsen boxes are antiquated.
I live in Switzerland and I participate in the market analysis studies for radio stations.
To get more exact results than answering a questionnaire, a "radio control watch" is used (since about 1-2 years).
It's a wristwatch with additional features:
- A microphone which records for 3 seconds every minute
- A motion detector to determine if the watch is worn
- A button to switch between "at home"/"out of home"
The recorded audio signal is frequency analyzed and stored in a compressed form in the watch. After some days I have to send the watch back to the institute. They compare the recorded signal spectrum with the one of all radio stations receivable in Switzerland and determine, what I was listening to, and how long. It even works in a noisy environment.
This procedure is repeated with different test persons in an intervall of several months.
Probably I'm falling out of the normal scheme, since I'm listening more and more to internet radio :-).
Are we going to see alot of "Motion Detecting" when monitoring the porn channels?
The only people that will need our use this will be old old old cable networks that won't be digital. And they will be few and far between. Digital cable already tracks your viewing habits so this news is like woop. It's one of those things, they could have used it 10 or 20 years ago.
Ummm, not necessarily. Consider the following scenario:
Of course, in this case, the PPM stands for: Personal Pet Meter!
Of course, there's always directly hacking the PPM itself, but this is arguably more fun knowing that the ratings have gone to the dogs. =)
If you still want to do some hacking, then take advantage of the Record-And-Send feature of a RePlay PVR; this requires help from someone whose shows are NOT encoded for PPM detection.
For those who lack pets, you could always just continue to wear the PPM, but while the hacked encodings are playing, watch or listen to whatever you want -- while wearing headphones.
Do you know who Neilsen is? They are the people that do TV ratings. These people are the Neilsen of radio. They actually, believe it or not, DON'T want everyone to have one of these. With research, you get batter data from a good sample than you do from a random portion of the population that you entice in other ways. Also it is certianly in their best intrests to keep the technology to themselves. They want to stay in bussiness.
Incase you don't know how Neilsen works: They ask 5,000 people in the nation, based on certian selection criteria, to participate. IF you don't respond to their letter, they find someone else. They fit their sample population with monitor boxes on all their TVs, or just give them diaries in the event that the local infastructer doesn't support their system. After a given peiord, they switch to a new sample. The is the same thing for radio (it's all diaries right now) and also will work for TV.
In the unlikely event you are selected (it is fairly unlikely given the population of the US) just stuff the letter in the bin, they'll go on to the next person.
Nerd hypocrisy at its finest. "Don't you tell me what to do because I know what's best for you!"
And you wonder why nobody pays attention to the attitudes of the slashdot mind.
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Too many "whacking it" jokes. My brain hurts.
Tastes like burning! - Ralph Wiggum
I picked up a volume of an encyclopedia dated
1964, and it had an article which featured a van
driving through parts of San Fransisco with
a large wire loop(?) antenna mounted on the
front. It was used to pick up RF interference from the sets. Scince each channel had a
unique "signature", they were able to determine
what channel people were watching and gathered
data that way. This is not new folks, and wouldn't be too worried.
It's a one eyed, one horned, flying portable people meter and it sure looks strange to me.
Failure is not an option. It comes automatically enabled in every Microsoft product.