This article was taken from the March 2012 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
https://www.wired.co.uk/topic/amazonThis is a four-dimensional object squeezed into two.
In 2005, Deb Roy, director of the Cognitive Machines group at MIT's Media Lab, installed cameras and mics throughout his house to study how his new-born son Dwayne learnt language. Over 240,000 hours of video were converted into "space-time worms" (see gallery), in which non-moving objects were made transparent, leaving "events" -- anything that moved. These were correlated with what was being said. The image above is ten seconds of Roy and his wife Rupal in their kitchen.
Now Roy, 43, has adapted the technology to tell TV networks and advertisers what people think of their products. "People tweet, blog and make Facebook comments when watching TV," he says. "We capture this feedback and link it to the events in the show." His company, Bluefin Labs, sells this "TV genome" back to the broadcasters, who get a real-time commentary on what people are watching. Tweet and be tracked.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
