January 16, 2008

OK, Now This Is A Little Scary: Microsoft Biometrics

Duncan Riley

63 comments »

Microsoft has lodged a new patent for a system that can track a worker’s productivity, physical wellbeing and competence.

According to The Times, who has seen the patent:

[the patent is for] a computer system that links workers to their computers via wireless sensors that measure their metabolism. The system would allow managers to monitor employees’ performance by measuring their heart rate, body temperature, movement, facial expression and blood pressure. Unions said they fear that employees could be dismissed on the basis of a computer’s assessment of their physiological state.

The Microsoft patent details a “unique monitoring system” that includes wireless sensors that read “heart rate, galvanic skin response, EMG, brain signals, respiration rate, body temperature, movement facial movements, facial expressions and blood pressure.” Further, the system would “automatically detect frustration or stress in the user” and “offer and provide assistance accordingly”. If the system picked up an increase in heart rate or facial expressions suggestive of stress or frustration, it would tell management that the employee needed help.

The Times refers to the system as being “Big-Brother like” and the Orwellian reference is correct. Imagine a world where those who went to work were constantly monitored by their employers, where getting excited privately by an attractive fellow employee could end up in a sexual harassment claim, or even privately being unhappy by someone in management may automatically result in intervention and retraining. I can’t speak for everyone, but at least in my own case: Don’t Want.

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Microsoft Biometrics - Computers Watching You! at EduTechie.com

January 17th, 2008 at 5:24 am

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MyWorkStreams

January 16th, 2008 at 1:13 pm

Why not? It’s something great.. an important element of Web 4.0.
lawrence

January 16th, 2008 at 1:18 pm

talk about micro-managing, to a whole new level..blaahahhh

you’re basically a labrat of an employee if you succomb to this
Mr. Stanley Russell Dudek

January 16th, 2008 at 1:18 pm

Holy Moley! The next step is plugging the computer straight into the brain.
If it can “automatically detect frustration or stress in the user” and “offer and provide assistance accordingly” is that going to be anything like Vista’s User Account Control (UAC)? Endlessly asking how you feel, or whether or not you really want to feel that way. “Caution, only feel this way if it is a trusted emotion from a trusted source.”
Brian

January 16th, 2008 at 1:21 pm

Interesting in concept. Patently terrifying in practice.

No question this crosses the Orwellian line. Galvanic skin response? Brain signals? Sounds like Microsoft’s a few miles down that slippery slope.
Alexandar Tzanov

January 16th, 2008 at 1:24 pm

All I am going to say is:

Oh HELL NOO!!! FU M$ and any potential employer who thinks that s/he can get away with this.

So what happens if you are constipated or have an upset stomach? Your facial expressions and other body functions will be off balance. LOL Is the employer going to supply Pepto Bismol?
5th

January 16th, 2008 at 1:24 pm

I would like it - I would use it on myself to track what % of the day I’m productive, and improve on that, etc. The more info the better. Are people afraid of how hard they’re working being tracked, or just that it won’t accurately track that? Or is it just a blanket “invasion of privacy” thing? Obviously people wouldn’t be forced to do it.
gilltots

January 16th, 2008 at 1:25 pm

in a few years, companies will tout *NOT* using this crap as a benefit. hah!
Mike

January 16th, 2008 at 1:26 pm

It is the future, no doubt about it. It may seem scary today but in ten years it will be like security cameras today at the supermarket.
MobileKick

January 16th, 2008 at 1:37 pm

NOT the future Mike, sorry bud. This type of technology does not help individuals, only corporations. And if we get to the point where corporations are more important than the masses, then the world will implode on itself. Luckily some of us aren’t stupid enough to work for “employers” and own our own companies
ron diggity

January 16th, 2008 at 1:42 pm

How is this scary and Google 23 and Me is not?
drivingsouth

January 16th, 2008 at 1:46 pm

Well, if this doom thing would ever happen i’m pretty sure that innovation and entrepreneurship would get a huge boost since everybody would start quitting their corporate desks.
Victor Shamanovsky

January 16th, 2008 at 1:47 pm

Safe bet that this is coming, whether you like it or not. Asian countries will be the early adopters, once the kinks are worked out, it is United State’s turn.
TwentySeven

January 16th, 2008 at 1:47 pm

I could see how this could be useful for the home user - for example, if I were to monitor my biometrics at work and found that I was constantly stressed out at work, perhaps it could help me realize that I needed a new job.
On the other hand, it does seem to cross an unwritten boundary, and I wouldn’t want this to become standard. In addition, it seems a bit excessive.
MyWorkStreams

January 16th, 2008 at 1:50 pm

Right, am sure China and Japan would be eager to first try that out!
Brian

January 16th, 2008 at 1:58 pm

Ron - I was thinking the same thing that this compares very closesly to 23 and me. It could be part of the Google Bias on this site where everything Microsoft does is bad and Google “does no evil.”

With Google implanting people with chips through 23 and me, storing your search history, triangulating your location via cell towers which will only get worse with Android, the ability to pinpoint your exact location with Google Maps Streetview, and determine all of your friend and associates with Open Social, whats so not evil about that.

Microsoft is just starting down the road where Google has been for a long time.
No Surprise

January 16th, 2008 at 1:58 pm

All we need now is a web based service with artificial intelligence - then we’d have SKYNET!

Start counting down till 2029.
Benoit

January 16th, 2008 at 2:04 pm

Don’t know if you’ve heard of the next generation of lie detectors that scan brain waves to know if someone is telling the truth. That would probably be useful in meetings!

http://www.wired.com/wired/arc.....lying.html
Duncan Riley

January 16th, 2008 at 2:05 pm

Rin Diggity #10
both are scary, but 23andme is voluntary, where as this aimed at businesses wanting to monitor their employees, that to me is step to far. If it was just say for home use if you had a health condition for example, it wouldn’t be quite as bad, a little scary in its scope, but the difference is in the context of how its used
Steve Balmer

January 16th, 2008 at 2:05 pm

It will be like back in the 19th century when those in power really had power! I am very much looking forward to this !

Muha haha ha…
Marshall Kirkpatrick

January 16th, 2008 at 2:13 pm

Just for clarity’s sake - it’s not being attracted to someone that gets a person in trouble for sexual harassment, it’s acting inappropriately based on that attraction. Failure to recognize the difference is a failure to take responsibility for your actions.
Mike will tell you an idiot!

January 16th, 2008 at 2:15 pm

Duncan is so different than us. Maybe Duncan got real mkultra inside his body.

Paranoid Freak.
Shortshire

January 16th, 2008 at 2:18 pm

Well I guess I won’t be able to look at my desk for 3 hours of the day anymore and claim that I do 15 minutes worth a work a week. That means i’ll have to start working, no more office space.

On a serious note, this is extremely dangerous because companies are already firing people based on physical health by looking at people. No one wants management to know how in shape you are and how fatigued you are. Monitors are needed for work, the only thing that is needed for review is the workload that is accomplished.
Robleh

January 16th, 2008 at 2:21 pm

It’s more likely something to do with the xbox. Reminds me of this article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tech.....section.it
marcus scheller

January 16th, 2008 at 2:29 pm

evil.

but, luckily, our world is changing and the old »employer and employee model« gets more and more outdated, leaving people with much more convinient and autarchic work environment. at least for me and loads of the people i know.
Amy

January 16th, 2008 at 2:31 pm

That is most definitely one of the most evil things I have read today
Concerned citizen

January 16th, 2008 at 2:35 pm

If you have nothing to hide, you should not have any problems with having your government, employer, neighbors, and family constantly monitor each and every thing you do. Otherwise you are just making the terrorists stronger.
matt

January 16th, 2008 at 2:45 pm

Fools this will not roll out for another few months. By thenit will be possible to simply clone yourself, or use easily obtainable stem cells to generate a fake (but working) human organ system, including a brain and nervous system. Just bring in your new “work assistant” and connect the monitor to it… bam, problem solved.

You’re all paranoid freaks!
Jorge

January 16th, 2008 at 2:55 pm

If this were made by Google the title would be something like “BREAKING: Google develops the ultimate productivity suite for enterprises. Bravo Google Bravo!”
MoneyMingle

January 16th, 2008 at 2:57 pm

The Great news is………um……err…….The Spinoff Technology!
Mike Mothner

January 16th, 2008 at 3:00 pm

This definitely crosses the line in terms of monitoring employees. I feel like some things, especially a person’s physiological state, should be kept private. I believe that any employee who simply knows that every bodily experience they have is being recorded would inevitably experience increased anxiety and stress, thereby rendering this type of over the top monitoring completely useless. In fact, I could see it impairing employees’ performance.
Craig

January 16th, 2008 at 3:02 pm

The day any employer i work for institutes this is the day I quit.

If you want that much control over your employees get a robot.

What a joke!
CB

January 16th, 2008 at 3:19 pm

Don’t worry, there will be no need for this in the U.S. because all of our jobs will be outsourced by the time they get the kinks out.
sprezzatura

January 16th, 2008 at 3:23 pm

The day any employer i work for institutes this is the day I quit.
If you want that much control over your employees get a robot.

Agreed. There’s some levels of autonomy that employees should never be asked to surrender. There’s companies out there that already do keystroke and other forms of activity monitoring — which I think is also crazy and draconian, but at least it’s external.

With this thing, since presumably proximity to the PC is necessary, they could not only track your physical state, but also how long your lunch and bathroom breaks were and whether you spent “too much” time away from your desk.

Orwell would love this shit.
james

January 16th, 2008 at 3:27 pm

this is perfect, for all those who facebook, it will show if you are genuinely excited to get an email from your friends (so called) or if you actually did enjoy being poked. The top new facebook app will be the fake friend test which is hooked into microsoft’s software, of course the 2nd top app will be how to fake the fake friend test & keep your heart rate at a constant level. Olympic shooters will become Fortune 500 CEO’s & rule the bots.
Eric Rice

January 16th, 2008 at 3:27 pm

Short story someone wrote about a system called “MANNA” which has this as the opening line:

“Depending on how you want to think about it, it was funny or inevitable or symbolic that the robotic takeover did not start at MIT, NASA, Microsoft or Ford. It started at a Burger-G restaurant in Cary, NC on May 17, 2010. It seemed like such a simple thing at the time, but May 17 marked a pivotal moment in human history.”

http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm

Certainly read the whole thing to see how the whole system started in fast food and went through real estate, office work, retail, you name it. (Answer to the “I’d quit!” comments, heh). Good times, good times.
Esims

January 16th, 2008 at 3:42 pm

wow…
YOU WILL LOVE YOUR JOB
YES
YOU WILL LOVE YOUR JOB
YES

Man this is just 100% crazy talk!
Like any one of us would even think about working for a company that had this in place.
Brig Graff

January 16th, 2008 at 3:58 pm

wow, now that is interesting….. Think of the killer uses of this in health care….
antje wilsch

January 16th, 2008 at 4:10 pm

@Brig - there is some company whose health plan (one of my list’s workers were all talking about it) fines you if you’re too fat, smoke, have high cholesterol etc… they paint it as ‘incentive’ but it’s still penalizing workers.
AnonTroll

January 16th, 2008 at 4:18 pm

STUPIDEST device ever.
hahahah

January 16th, 2008 at 4:33 pm

if anyone is willing to work at a company with this kind of monitoring deserves the hazards that come along with it.

if you don’t want it, go get a job with a manager that isn’t paranoid.
Dyde

January 16th, 2008 at 4:42 pm

I can imagine the Microsoft’s implementation of the monitoring software.

You seem to be frustrated?
[Continue] [Quit]

Continue

Are you sure you want to continue? How about quitting? Our severance packages are looking good!
[Continue] [Quit]

Continue

Illegal choice detected. You have been fired.

Jokes aside, this type of thing would probably work for low skill jobs (like fast food or retail) where metabolism and drug use are real problems, but higher skilled jobs employees will just ignore it. Tons of people use Facebook or YouTube at work and employers know about this, yet no one does anything. In the past, the employers have tried security cameras, keyloggers, trojans and so what? People still slack off at work.

Though I’d love to use this thing for private use to see my metabolism statistics and chart data.
Kelli

January 16th, 2008 at 4:50 pm

It’s scary enough from any company but from Microsoft? Good god! What’s next, the Blue Face of Death?
Jake

January 16th, 2008 at 4:53 pm

Wow… this is doubleplusungood. After just finishing the book 1984 last week I was thinking how far we are off and the evidence is right in front of us. Next will be doublethink: “Microsoft announces that black is actually white- new scientific study on human sight perception…”.

Hey Dyde I wouldnt mind using it for private use either I would get to see my heart rate levels for the day. As for use in public companies if it ever were to be implemented there would be more people required to ‘monitor’ the alerts this software patent’s data… and what if they are getting stressed
Jake

January 16th, 2008 at 4:56 pm

Also I cannot wait till the SDK is launched for it Software Ahoy!
Lelia Katherine Thomas

January 16th, 2008 at 5:07 pm

This will be one of those things that, in 50 to 100 years, it will be in an article, and our grandchildren will laugh and say, “What were they thinking?” because it’ll never happen.

Honestly, who thinks they matter this much to their employers? Moreover, what employer, in his or her right mind, would chuck out the money for such a system? And what happens when the employee is fired or leaves for another job? No, it’s not cost effective at all.

And can you imagine how annoying this system would be. Paperclips popping up all the time, “It looks like you’re getting stressed.”

Calm down, everyone. It ain’t happening.
Anderson Vitous

January 16th, 2008 at 5:16 pm

Actually this is rather ironic; Microsoft, at least in its earlier days, was rather well known for, ahem, “confrontational” management styles by some folks, chiefly BillG himself, who was known to scream at people now and then.
Niyaz PK

January 16th, 2008 at 5:28 pm

Don’t want? Don’t use.
Zuggu

January 16th, 2008 at 5:33 pm

why are they waisting their money on this kind of stuff…?
thx1138

January 16th, 2008 at 5:39 pm

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066434/

If MS had written this movie:

Chrome Business Manager Robot: Everything will be all right. You are in my hands. I am here to protect you. You have nowhere to go. You have nowhere to go.
Brent

January 16th, 2008 at 6:02 pm

LOL this reminds me of Fake Steve Ballmer’s comment on the 23andme post about DNA tests…

“We already do this at employment screenings”

Maybe it was actually from the real Steve Ballmer!
ghosts

January 16th, 2008 at 6:46 pm

There is not a chance in hell I would let anyone invade my privacy like that. That’s just going too far.
cdog

January 16th, 2008 at 6:47 pm

If I had this M$ gear on, went on bathroom break and took a dump, would Dr. Watson go and sniff it?
ajadoniz

January 16th, 2008 at 6:59 pm

this could easily be used for something else and not in a bigbrother type of way, but of course people immediately point out the negatives instead of the positives.
Duncan Riley

January 16th, 2008 at 7:48 pm

Marshall #20
thanks for stating the blatantly obvious, I’m completely retarded and didn’t know that.

The context I was thinking of was that if you’re being monitored, say you got “excited” (that’s the PC-American friendly version) as another employee walked past, given that this could be detected could this in the future constitute sexual harassment? after all, you’ve thought something about that employee that if said would qualify, and the system would be able to tell.
Steve

January 16th, 2008 at 8:10 pm

I’m more inclined to say this has something to do with Robleh’s post (23) about the XBox… there’s more logic in that scenario.

But…

Productive employees are a dying breed, so some sort of employee “healthometer” wouldn’t be a bad idea. Companies don’t pay employees to d*ck around on the web. Oh wait… maybe they do…
MS

January 17th, 2008 at 12:55 am

Damn….just HOW evil is Microsoft aiming to become?
Menashe

January 17th, 2008 at 12:56 am

Duncan
Better do you homework. This is related to Xbox division not business productivity.
And I can already see your headline if this patent came from GOOG. Probably something like “Another wonderful patent from the geniuses in Mountain View”.
Get a grip.
I Am Not Posting To Spam My Blog

January 17th, 2008 at 2:46 am

This is not Orwellian. 1984 is about an all-pervasive government from which there is no escape, even in your own thoughts. This is about private business, from which there is always an escape - the front door. If you don’t want to have your biometrics monitored, then don’t work at that company. The key thing here is choice. If there’s choice - and “If I don’t want to work at these companies I’ll have to accept a lower salary” IS a choice - it’s not Orwellian.

Of course, it’s extremely disturbing, but I find it difficult to accept that employees will go along with having sensors attached all around their body before they go into work. Nor can I see it being used for the horror stories you suggest (sexual arousal becoming a disciplinary offence, for example). In fact I can’t see management being able to handle being bombarded with such information for more than a day. Even the biggest control freak (and there are some big ones out there) would quickly be overwhelmed. I see a prototype being developed (100 comments on TechCrunch), some trendy company trialling it at one of their offices (200 comments on TechCrunch), and the next day management will quietly tell their employees to take off the sensors (no story, 0 comments).

But please, leave Orwell out of this. Society IS becoming more Orwellian, there’s no doubt about it. Look at the loss of civil liberties justified by the prosecution of a largely fictitious terrorist organisation - substitute Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda for Goldstein and the Brotherhood. Look at the prevalence of CCTV. Look at the multiplying government euphemisms. If we overuse the word “Orwellian”, then 1984, one of the starkest warnings against abuse of power by the state ever written, will lose all the power it had.
dennis groves

January 17th, 2008 at 5:52 pm

I for one welcome this. After all; what could be better than a giant amount of data indicating that sitting all day long is not only unhealthy but actually killing people. Perhaps this can lead to ‘walkstations’ and the like being put into the workplace. I for one think that a great deal of our obeisity can be attributed to sitting all day long for a living. We did not evolve to do that. And it comes at a giant price. Computers will become the new nicotine. Much research wil be done to make computers wearable so we can increase our metabolism while accomplishing tasks. Just like ‘green’ is all the rage right now, soon it will be health that is all the rage.
Mr.Hong

January 17th, 2008 at 7:02 pm

I’ve never knew that. This is something new I see. It’s all about earn money. Is there anyone knows Bakugan? That’s the only thing I am interested about.
macmarine

January 18th, 2008 at 12:40 am

The first Micro$oft product that doesn’t suck will come out the day they start making vacuum-cleaners!
I Am Not Posting To Spam My Blog

January 18th, 2008 at 2:54 am

@59: Can’t let that pass. There are millions of people who work in offices and are perfectly healthy, because they walk to and from work, go to the gym, take part in sport, eat well, etc. It’s true that our evolution isn’t suited to white-collar jobs, but that also applies to monogamy, women’s rights, art and democracy. Part of being human is rejecting the biological impulses that diminish your mind and soul.

Your health is your responsibility, not your boss’, so it’s not their job to let you exercise on their dollar. Your employer would ideally prefer you to drop dead at the age of 65 or whenever you cease to become productive, so they don’t have to pay out your pension. Be healthy, live to 100 and stick it to The Man.