Patents, by definition, are exclusive rights granted for an invention. These are ways for companies and experts to claim specific privileges when it comes to products they are aiming to sell or are selling right now.
They also provide us with a glimpse of just the weirdest things different tech brands have up their sleeves. Some of them may never see the light of day, sure – but it’s hilarious to see the craziest ideas that pop into the heads of their technicians and scientists.
One of the oddest (and creepiest we’ve looked at) patents out there is a 2009 Sony patent that resurfaced on the Internet. At first glance, the concept is… alright. Owners of the TV in the patent are shown to be able to skip an advert by only shouting the name of the brand.
The illustration for the filing is quite macabre: “[the patent] shows a cartoon figure watching what appears to be a Western movie before a burger appears, causing them to yell the name of the aforementioned brand. And lo and behold, the two men shooting at each other return to the screen. Seamless,” Creativebloq’s Daniel Piper describes.
It may not look creepy, but the implications of how the technology would work screams Black Mirror. It’s because the television can connect to an Interactive Commercial Service, a conceptual system responsible for talking back to advertisers. It means that this part has full control of what you can see.
We’re thankful that this patent hasn’t been out of Sony’s basement, to be honest.
Image credit: Sony