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Smart Sofa Recognizes Occupants by Weight

Posted by michael on from the chubby-hubby dept.

I am Kobayashi writes "According to CNN.com scientists at Trinity College in Dublin have created my dream couch. And yes, I admit to being a couch potato... Apparently the couch can be programmed with a personal greeting (it recognizes you by weight), and the scientists hope that it will one day be able to automatically tune to your favorite television programs, order you take out food, and control other household appliances."

4 of 353 comments (clear)

  1. I hope this part is a joke... by rokzy · · Score: 2, Informative

    "order you take out food"

    this kind of automatic buying stuff (like MS .net services) is absolute bullshit and a million times more effort than it's worth.

  2. I'm not impressed. by mmoncur · · Score: 5, Informative

    So... it's an uncomfortable couch with a $10 digital scale built in?

    And they got on CNN? Obviously the rest of us just aren't trying hard enough.

    Real geeks don't want that couch, they want funny-looking ergonomic sofas or something with a built-in stereo and drink holder. ...or a couch made of mouse pads.

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  3. Read the article... by attemptedgoalie · · Score: 5, Informative

    Before many of you run amok, and make fun of heavy people, please read the article.

    It's in development, and has plans to be used to assist the elderly and those in hospitals.

    This is not some way to keep people indoors, or track their TV habits, or any of the other conspiracy baloney that will sure to be brought up soon.

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    1. Re:Read the article... by tho+1234 · · Score: 2, Informative

      I disagree. What it looks like is an examining bed with a few weight sensors interfaced to a computer (see the computer directly underneath "sofa") It can't do anything whatsoever, other than read off the weight and compare it to known users. There is absolutely no technology involved, and any highschool student could duplicate what they did in a month. (4 few sensors, hooked up to an A/D board, interfaced to a computer, program consiting of one if/else if stucture). Despite the total lack of innovation, the "developers" brainstormed up a list of possible applications, all of which are A) useless b) trivial to implement by anyone with experience in programming/EE. Assist elderly people? you have to be kidding- the example they site is sounding an alarm when the user leaves the chair, which is totally unreleated to the "talking sofa" they described earlier, and also incredibly easy to implement (could be done with 1 battery, 1 spring loaded switch, 1 buzzer) I can't believe this "invention" recieved national press coverage, go into any science fair/undergrad lab, and you will see far more innovative, complex, and useful devices.