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.