“Engagement” – are you paying attention?

Microsoft’s new home gaming console – the X-Box One again pushes the boundaries of gaming entertainment combined with the all-important Kinect motion sensor.

Since launch, the Kinect has been hacked to self-drive a mini car to powering a real time light sabre; use cases beyond anything MSFT had imagined when they conceived the device

Now with new enhanced compute power and an upgraded Kinect sensor, what does the future hold beyond realistic engaging content and game play?

The new Kinetic technical specification are impressive – with increased field view, infrared and HD cameras allowing it to build up better 3D images of the room than before, leading to exciting possibilities in both gaming and marketing.

The ability to measure heart rate through the fluctuations in skin tone combined with your pupil size could be used to measure your level of engagement with a game or advert, changing either the difficulty or brand message accordingly.

Multiple people in the room, who is actually paying attention to that advert? 
 
Body temperatures rising? – How about a quick advert for an ice cold Coke …. along with a family pizza meal deal as there are 4 of you in the room.

Or even worse, working out when you are tired (and more likely to make impulse purchases) to hit you with some brand messages….

Understanding the context of the signals is critical; as certain signals could have dual meaning and if interpreted incorrectly have dire consequences - tears of joy / tears of despair.

Conscious of this along with just the general creep factor around being watched and the actions that this spawns it still remains an exciting opportunity to really get ‘engaged’