Google has been granted a patent that could launch a Minority Report like advertising future. It could also change how they'll incorporate advertising on Google Glass.

The patent outlines how advertisers could be charged according to the number of views of an ad both offline and online. The process is called "pay-per-gaze" advertising. It suggests that its "gaze tracking system" requires a "head mounted gaze tracking device" which "comprises eyeglasses" and "side arms that engage ears of the user.. lenses through which the user views the external scenes, wherein the scene images are captured in real-time" as well as "at least one forward facing scene camera."

The gaze tracking technique would pinpoint what the Glass wearer is looking at. It also states that the system might identify if and when the wearer is looking at advertisements.

The patent also mentions the possibility of "inferring [the] emotional state of the user while viewing the external scenes based at least in part upon the pupil dilation information."

This could mean that Google could show you ads depending on your emotional responses. Where's the privacy in the future? At least, there's a tad bit because the patent also states that "personal identifying data may be removed from the data and provided to the advertisers as anonymous analytics".

How far along more are we to this kind of future?