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Verizon files patent for cable box that watches and listens to everything in your living room

Posted at 7:14 AM, Dec 05, 2012
and last updated 2012-12-05 07:14:22-05

Verizon has filed a patent for a cable box that will target ads based on what cameras and microphones detect happening in customers’ living rooms.

According to a report from CBS News, argument sounds would prompt ads for marriage counseling, and sounds of “cuddling” would prompt ads for contraceptives.

The patent goes on to say that the sensors would also be able to determine if a viewer is exercising, eating, laughing, singing, or playing a musical instrument, and target ads to viewers based on their mood. It also could use sensors to determine what type of pets or inanimate objects are in the room. The system can also “dynamically adjust parental control features” if it detects that young children are present in the room.

Read more at CBS News.