Microsoft has proposed its new system that will help us dig cryptocurrencies using data collected during watching ads.

  In a patent application filed on Thursday, the American giant noted that special sensors can detect activity related to specific tasks - such as time spent watching ads - and transform them into data read by computers and then use to solve mathematical problems in a similar way as it does is the Proof-of-Work algorithm that stands behind bitcoin.

Microsoft: Why do we need Proof-of-Work ?!

"Instead of the massive computational work required by some conventional cryptocurrency systems, data generated based on the user's body activity can be proof of work, so the user may unknowingly solve a computationally difficult problem," reads a patent application.

  The system can thus somehow use "physical effort" to mine cryptocurrencies: sensors can detect when the body performs a given physical task (they will record, for example, a faster pulse) and use this data to unlock blocks in a blockchain. Scanners connected to the head can even use brain waves, signals sent during mental effort to extract cryptocurrencies.

  Microsoft claims that such a system can ultimately be used to encourage users to perform specific tasks. Scanners can detect activity related to certain types of tasks, such as mental concentration while reading ad content, and reward users.

(No) Need a revolution?

  Although Microsoft designed the system described above, it is not clear whether the company will implement and use it in practice. It is also unclear whether such a protocol would operate on the basis of a new network, or whether existing blockchaines could be used for this purpose.

  Recall that at the end of 2017, the Dutch company examined whether people produce enough energy to mine cryptocurrencies. Their research results showed that the body heat of 37 people, collected within a few hours, generated enough energy for the computer to continuously dig digital coins for just over eight days.

  Changes in the algorithms are needed, because the high energy consumption in the BTC network is very controversial.