Log On With A Chuckle
from the fun-for-the-whole-family dept
Apparently in search of an igNobel award, some researchers in Australia have been working on a system that will let you log into the nearest computer... by laughing. It's designed to recognize an individual's laugh, and use that as a voiceprint. The technology is also designed to work in a room where there are multiple computers - since all the various computers that hear the laugh then determine which one you're closest to. Not quite sure why they chose to make it work by laughing. It would appear that the more interesting technology is the part determining which computer you are closest to.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Does the login prompt offer a funny joke?
It's really hard to laugh without something really funny prompting you to do so.
I listen a nationally syndicated morning radio show with two DJs who bring in comedians from around the country, and I can tell a distinct difference between when they're really laughing and when they're fake-laughing at something that wasn't really funny, and I'm not a computer.
If the first time you go to use the software, it tells you a funny joke and you laugh for real, and it uses that as the baseline, unless it continues to make you laugh each time, your laugh is *not* going to sound the same after that.
Maybe there is some subtle laugh-index that *is* the same between *real* laughs and *forced* laughs, but I'd hate to think that the people at NORAD were unable to log in to their PC in time to avert a nuclear missle disaster because they panicked and couldn't make themselves laugh.
BTW, I keep telling you guys to 'Save me a cookie', and you still haven't sent me any cookies, and I'm getting hungry! Oh, and if you're computer just logged you in, then the new software works!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]