With New Patent, Microsoft Kinect Can See Whos Watching

Microsoft has filed a patent for a technology that would let Kinect detect how many people are consuming content at a given time -- a tool that may protect digital content rights at the risk of alienating consumers concerned about their privacy.

Kinect would monitor how many people are in the room when a game or piece of entertainment is being displayed and "take remedial action" if the number of user-views licensed is exceeded, according to the patent application.

Reps from Microsoft could not be reached for comment on the patent.

According to the filing, the technology is designed to address content which has a license that "comprises an absolute limited number of user performan…
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