Startup uses eye-tracking technology to force people to watch ads

Luring people by giving away free movie tickets, a new startup is planning to use eye-tracking technology in order to make people watch ads forcefully.

The founder of MoviePass, a discount movie ticket service that lets users see multiple movies per month for a flat rate, has founded a startup app that will help people get free movie tickets, but only if they sit through 15 to 20 minutes of ads that will also use eye-tracking tech to make sure they don’t look away.

Unlike YouTube ads that can be skipped after few seconds, the new app called ‘PreShow’ requires user’s full attention. In order to use it, one would have to sign in with Apple’s FaceID. The user also won’t be allowed to just walk or look away as the app watches them to make sure they are paying attention, reported Engadget.

To earn those free movie tickets, user would have to keep their gaze in a green-bordered frame and look at screen for the entire duration of ads, which could include movie trailers, behind the scenes features and interactive experiences from related firms. If one tries to look away or keep the phone down, the app shows a red border and pauses the ad until the user pays attention again.

MoviePass co-founder Stacy Spikes mentioned that he does not intend to license the ad-pushing technology anywhere out of PreShow. At present, the app is gathering backers through a Kickstarter campaign. Moreover, it also assures that the app gathers data on user’s ‘behaviors’ but never records them and all the data is aggregated and anonymized to brand partners, as per Daily Mail.