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.
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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!
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