They Can Hear You Now: Verizon Patent Could Listen In On Customers « CBS DC

Verizon has filed a patent for targeting ads that collect information from infrared cameras and microphones that can detect the amount of people and types of conversations happening in customers’ living rooms.

 The set-top box technology is not the first of its kind – Comcast patented similar monitoring technology in 2008 that recommended content to users based on people it recognized in the room. Google TV also proposed a patent that would use video and audio recorders to figure out exactly how many people in a room were watching its broadcast. But details including the number of pets in the room or the physical size of people in the room can determine what types of pet food or body wash ads may be presented to the customers.....
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/12/04/they-can-hear-you-now-verizon-patent-listens-in-on-customers/