As a company that wants to make money, Roku wants you to watch as many ads as possible. Currently, that’s not possible when you exit Roku’s streaming player and do things like play a game on your Nintendo Switch or watch a show on your Apple TV. But if the company has its way, one day this may no longer be an issue, at least for people with Roku TVs.
Roku describes its thinking patent applicationwhich went largely unnoticed when it was filed in November, was recently spotted by the streaming newsletter Lowpass. In the app, Roku describes a system that can detect when users pause third-party hardware and software and show them ads during that time.
According to the company, its new system works via an HDMI connection. This suggests it’s aimed at people who play video games or watch content from other streaming services on their Roku TVs. Lowpass describes Roku’s conundrum perfectly:
The newsletter’s author, Janko Roettgers, writes: “As consumers turn to external devices, whether gaming consoles or add-on streaming adapters from competing manufacturers, Roku’s ability to make money while the TV is on but not actively used will be at risk. disappear.” . “In reality, the HDMI input is a bit of a black box for Roku.”
Additionally, Roku won’t just show you any old ads. The company said its innovation can identify content users have paused and serve customized, relevant ads. Roku’s system will do this by, for example, using audio or video recognition technology to analyze what the user is watching or analyzing the content’s metadata.
The company’s patent application has not yet been approved. Roku declined to comment on the patent filing when reached by Gizmodo on Friday. It should also be noted that companies file for patents all the time, but many of their ideas never see the light of day.
While I don’t own a Roku device, the thought of ads bleed onto my screen when I pause what I’m watching on other services to get a soda or go to the bathroom is terrifying. It’s one thing to show ads to someone while they’re using your service, but completely hijacking the experience on other hardware and software would be annoying.
When it comes to gaming, there’s also a danger that Roku will mistake a long pause for a pause when you’re getting ready to face the final boss, and slap ads on when you’re ready to face the final boss. The company is aware of this potential glitch and notes that its system will monitor frames of the content being viewed to ensure a phase exists. It also plans to use other methods, such as analyzing audio sources on TVs for long stretches of silence to confirm whether pauses are present.
None of this is foolproof, though, and I don’t want to be in the room when a gamer inevitably gets hit with an ad during an important tournament and everything falls apart.