The Smart Party system relies on people carrying Wi-Fi-enabled music-players. Software running on each device beams each user’s playlist to a nearby computer, which is connected to an amp and speakers and played for the group.
The computer takes a poll of titles to work out the most popular genre and can also copy and play tracks from each device. It can then play music from the most popular overall music genre or tracks supplied by each party-goer in turn.
When someone leaves the room, their playlist can be removed from the musical ballot to reflect the music of the remaining occupants. It detects the proximity of people by triangulating wireless signals.
The technology was developed by Kevin Eustice (pdf) and colleague Peter Reiher, both from UCLA, and revealed at CES in Las Vegas, last week. “In our current implementation, all votes are equal – one device might propose heavy metal, another pop,” Eustice says.
There is just one thorny problem with the scheme, says New Scientist – digital rights management (DRM). This is because the central PC temporarily copies tracks from each device before playing them, which may be deemed a copyright infringement.
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