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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."

9 of 353 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Weight fluctuates and people can weigh the same by Splat · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Now I have an extra alibi.

    "Look at my Tivo usage logs - I was watching TV at that time!" and "Check the couch! The couch doesn't lie! But I was lying - on the couch!"

    Why hasn't Law & Order or any other cop show done an episode where a suspect is ruled out because they were watching Tivo at the time of the crime as proven by the logs on the PVR and his intelligent couch. Sheesh.

    In my perfect world you end that episode showing the super smart computer person putting a timer delay on a pronto remote control to simulate TV watching and stacking phone books on the couch to simulate sitting on it ... Muahaha...

  2. Re:Recognizing by weight by panaceaa · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Also, people's weight changes throughout the day. People eat, go to the bathroom, and also generally weigh more during the evening than average. Is the couch going to have a programmed clock for that?

    If I were a scientist, I'd try to identify people based on their butt prints!

    --
    my blog
  3. weight catalog by picardsb · · Score: 2, Interesting

    yes - it will keep measuring how fast mr x keeps gaining weight. next it will also tell which doc to go to - maybe even call the doc (to write your death certificate). perfect recipie to make people more fat and stupid. wonder of mc daddy has something to do with it. 1st day; 150lb, day 10; 200lb - going good - day 30: your end is near, i'll order the your favourite quadruple cheese burger. makes me wonder who thought this up!

  4. Fit for the real world? by Barnoid · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My experience is that every member of our family has his dedicated seat and always sits on the same couch even when he/her is alone.

    Those lucky of you who live with your wife/girlfriend and have 'your own' couch, does your partner really use it when you are not there?

    Maybe a simple 'ass present' sensor would be sufficient..

    --
    I'm a-huga bimbo

  5. butt print... by TWX · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well, as unglamourous as a "butt print" is, it would be interesting to see if one can be identified by how one's pressure applies. Different parts push harder due to shape and posture, so if you happen to sit more on your left hip than on your right it should show...

    Let's just hope that the software doesn't create a visual 3d model of someone's ass as a rendered image. *shudder*

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    1. Re:butt print... by panaceaa · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If people can be identified to some degree by weight alone, I'm sure that having a pressure-sensitive map of someone's weight distribution (butt print) could only be more accurate. Also, you can learn something identifiable by how specific people slouch or lie down, how much they lean back, and other behavioral traits like antsiness. Though detecting these traits would be far more complicated than putting a scale under each pillow.

      Maybe the pillows wouldn't detect weight itself, but the shape of the imprentation using lots of small censors that detect motion. That motion could be integrated (calculus) to calculate their current position. The individual data points could be used together to figure out someone's current position, how their weight is distributed, and how much they move around over time. However, are there affordable censors that can do that? Alternatively, are there censors that can somehow know their absolute location rather than using calculus?

      --
      my blog
  6. Doing Crud For Me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    As cool as this sounds, I don't like the idea of the couch changing the channel for me. When I want to go and change the channel, I'll do it. It's like how XP wants to automatically find a program to open everything in a CD when you put it in. That drove me nuts for a while.

    Now if it automatically changed firmness and positioning settings on my Lazy Boy recliner when I sat on it, then I will be happy. Not to mention that over time I'd begin to look like Baron Harkonnen, if you catch my drift. I just hope that the chair won't do EVERYTHING for me. I wanna press the buttons in the end.

  7. There are better ways to identify users... by WoTG · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Umm... yeah, I think someone has spent too much time watching the Simpsons.

    Seriously, if we want music, lights, and the temperature to respond to who's in the room, aren't we better off with some voice recognition software? You and I have seen it on Star Trek - it looks like fun. =)

    Basic voice recognition would be feasible for this purpose. "Room, this is Joe. You know how I like it." Plus, there won't be nearly as many issues as this uncomfortable sofa will have. How is a sofa with a weight sensor supposed to know what to do when people are holding bags, or have just been to a buffet, or has a friend on the couch with them, or is jumping on the couch, or all of the above?

  8. Re:Hi, Cindy, want the same as last time? by RevAaron · · Score: 2, Interesting

    1. I watch almost no TV. Perhaps 1 hr/week, 2 hr/week if there is something special.
    2. I read a lot.
    3. I'm a fatty.

    I kind of think as myself as having some funky form of OCD, some sort of slightly humorous and completely benign form. My obsessions are efficiency (but in my own backward way) and reading, kind of related.

    I read all the time when I'm not engaged in activity with someone else. I read when I go take a dump. I read when I'm eating alone at the table. I read on the bus, and when I'm watiting for it. When I'm driving, I sometimes pick up my PDA at the stop light, only to read a half a sentence. I used to read when I was walking between classes, although I've stopped that for the most part. (I also usually beatbox when walking around, and I don't like getting spittle on my PDA screen!) Hell, I even read when I'm standing up going pee, although I often only get in .5-1 pages.

    I do all this to a lesser extent when I'm reading a paper book or magazine, but I can take it quite far when I'm reading electronically stored books on my PDA. Reading on a PDA is great- I love not having to flip pages. I can set JustReader+ to do auto-scroll, and while I'm standing there doing something manual and repetitive (like cutting up vegetables for dinner), I can read. With the PDA, I don't have to worry about flipping pages when my hands are dirty, keping a bookmark, or similar things. I don't have to worry about what I'll read next when I'm done- I typically have a few books in waiting on my PDA for when I do finish.

    Does anyone else do this, or am I that weird? :P

    I am not sure the purpose of this message- I know that reading with a PDA instead of a book isn't responsible for my fat-ness, so do not misinterpret it that way.

    Although yes, reading a book is a little less sedentary, if only because your brain is being engaged. Flipping pages isn't all that much more work than flipping channels, though. However, depending on your position, sometimes holding the reading material up in some place can be a titch more exercise. And, I swear, fighting with the damned news paper has gotta be something as well. :)

    While I watch no TV now, I used to watch more. TV is like a drug, and so many people throughout the US, Canada and elsewhere are addicted. I do not mean this as convenient metaphor. I have felt the changes that come about in my brain when parking my ass somewhere comfortable and watching TV for hours.

    I stopped watching TV for a number of reasons, a big one being that I don't like dealing with its schedule. My code, the book I'm reading, a nearby park- all things that don't require me to show up or pick up at a specific hour of the day. Having to remember to watch some certain channel at some certain time to see some show it way too much hassle. Not surprisingly, I also hate the drugged feeling of being a "couch potato."

    I think that drugged feeling should be investigated more by science- I wouldn't be surprised at all if there was some connection between that, eating more, and the commercials or television content.

    I wonder if most people notice this as well, or if they're simply too used to it to put a finger on it?

    --

    Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad