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Sony Ericsson Files Patent for Emotion-Driven Music Phones

by Evan Shamoon on May 24, 2009 at 08:15 AM




Based on its current balance sheets, Sony Ericsson, Sony's "mobile device" brand, is struggling to stay alive in a world full of iPhones and BlackBerrys. This, among other things, is going to mean going back to the technological drawing board. And if the company can make good on its most recent patent, it may just be on to something.

"Generating music playlist based on facial expression," is the way the concept is described in the patent; the idea would be for someone to use a Sony Ericsson phone to capture a self-portrait (with the built-in camera). The device would use facial recognition on this snapshot to build a custom music playlist based on the mood of the user.

The idea could even be protracted over time. Users could take video of themselves, and the software would track his or her changing emotional states over the course of the video. A mix of songs could then be extrapolated from this emotional arc.

Obviously, it's going to take a lot of work this to make this tech anything more than a gimmick, but you've got to hand it to Sony for finally doing what it should be: bringing together its expertise in various areas of technology (photography, media players, and cell phones) into one elegant idea. [From: Textually]

Tags: ericsson, facial recognition, FacialRecognition, music, sony, sony ericsson, SonyEricsson, top

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