Canon, Panasonic and Sony are developing TVs with facial recognition software

BBC News

"You've got Panasonic showing forward facing video in the home entertainment environment. Instead of using a conventional remote control you hold up your hand and it recognises you have done that," he said.

"It also recognises your face and that you are you and it will display on your TV screen your menu. You can move your hand to move around and select what you want," he added.

"Sony and Canon and other video and photographic manufacturers are using face recognition that recognises your face in real time," he said. "And it recognises even when you smile."

BBC News

There are many simpler technologies that allow for different users to be recognised, such as user-names and passwords but facial recognition? This is slightly over the top for a TV, but it is innocuous enough to convince the public need it and it wouldn't be an invasion of privacy.

But this technology may be far more reaching than that, especially as we see TV move to the Internet, data could move in both directions. It may begin harmlessly with TV companies using the expressions people show whilst watching programmes to judge the success of the show, maybe even for TV to be edited live to increase enjoyment of the users but this technology could be too easily abused especially in today's surveillance society personally I would be against having a camera watching me at all times in front of the TV.

Mind you a small post it note would be all that's required to render this technology.

[edit on 17-7-2008 by -Klaus-]