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This article was published on April 19, 2016

Google wants to know if you’re getting all hot and sweaty over its search results


Google wants to know if you’re getting all hot and sweaty over its search results Image by: Google

Google’s been working on making its search results better for you since day one, mainly by making sure Web pages are tagged with the most relevant keywords and that the most trusted pages head straight to the top.

But that’s not enough.

Google has filed a patent that opens the door for it to measure biometric data – including using your smartphone camera to see the reactions on your face – to make sure the search results it displays are exactly the ones you were hoping for.

The patent outlines plans to measure body temperature and heart rate, pupil dilation, eye twitching and blink rate, and facial flushing all to judge how you feel about the search results you’ve seen.

The idea is that once it sends a set of results for your search query, it’ll use your reactions to give them a “satisfaction score” and then use that to inform the ones it would display next time.

Of course, tailoring stuff to this level is just the kind of personalization that the smartphone-in-your-pocket world paves the way for and could make for the perfect result for you each and every time.

As ever though, it strays into the creepy.

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