NeuroFocus

Rating: We have ways of knowing what
you’re thinking

by Tony Dennis

In a move which I personally think
smacks more than a little of desperation, ratings giant – Nielsen,
has decided to invest in technology developed by boffins at MIT and
Berkeley. NeuroFocus claims that it can very accurately track brain
responses to stimuli – which would include advertising, naturally.

When you look at how NeuroFocus
achieves this capability – by checking skin condition (for
sweating); by tracking your eyes (to see if your eyes look shifty);
and monitoring your brain waves (for tell-tale patterns) – it
really does sound like lie detection, doesn’t it?

Why should Nielsen display an interest
in such things? Well, the obvious conclusion is that the company is
worrying that its traditional method of data gathering – recording
the viewing habits of a specific group of people – is looking
seriously low tech.
Nonetheless, I can see that NeuroFocus could
easily provide Nielsen with a very powerful tool. Take, for example,
an infamous trial for mobile TV held in Britain. After a few weeks of
watching TV on the handsets for free, the participants were asked if
they’d pay £8-£10 per month for such a service. A high
number said, Yes. But I reckon that many of them were lying because
they didn’t want to sound ungrateful. NeuroFocus could have proved my
hunch.
It could also have provided an interesting insight into the
answer to this question … in which place did you view mobile TV
most? A) The garden shed B) The bedroom C) The loo. We all know the
answer really was C and NeuroFocus could have confirmed this.

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