New Patent Hints at 'Pay-Per-Gaze' Advertising for Google Glass

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By Luisa Rollenhagen2013-08-15 21:29:24 UTC

Google has just been granted a patent that could potentially pave the way for advertising on Google Glass in the future.

The patent, which was granted on Tuesday, outlines how advertisers could be charged according to the the number of views an ad received while wearing Glass, both offline and online. Google calls the process "pay-per-gaze" advertising.

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While the patent doesn't specifically mention Google Glass, it does state that its "gaze tracking system" requires a "head mounted gaze tracking device" which "comprises eyeglasses" and includes "side-arms that engage ears of the user ... lenses through which the user views the external scenes, wherein the scene images are captured in real-time" as well as "at least one forward facing scene camera."

Google Glass seems to fit that description quite well, even though Google has mentioned in the past that developers would be banned from displaying ads on the device.

According to the patent, a specific gaze-tracking technique would pinpoint what the Glass wearer was looking at.

The patent also states that the system might identify if — and when — the wearer looked at advertisements. It would then subsequently charge advertisers associated with the advertisements "based at least in part on a per gaze basis" and determine whether the wearer looked directly at the ad, and for how long.

But wait — there's more. Reportedly, the patent mentions the possibility of "inferring [the] emotional state of the user while viewing the external scenes based at least in part upon the pupil dilation information." In other words, Google could potentially identify and collect people's emotional responses to certain ads and perhaps even charge advertisers accordingly.

Individual privacy isn't completely thrown out the window, though. The patent states that "personal identifying data may be removed from the data and provided to the advertisers as anonymous analytics" and mentions possible incorporation of an opt-in or opt-out feature.

Although the patent calls to mind Minority Report-style scenarios, it doesn't guarantee the technology's success or even implementation.

If the technology described in the patent is incorporated into Google Glass, however, it could fundamentally change advertising.

Image: Mashable

Topics: Advertising, Apps and Software, Business, Dev & Design, Gadgets, Google Glass, Google Glass, Media, patents, Work & Play