A new Apple patent application published today relates to iAd technology that will allow Apple to target users with specific content based on a person’s predicted mood, their likely interest level, other content they are currently interacting with, their current geographic location, and the time of day.

In some applications, mood would be gauged using a camera which, equipped with facial recognition algorithms, would be able to measure specific expressions.

The patent contains 27 different patent claims, and was originally filed in Q2 2012. It is credited to Michael Greenzeiger, Ravindra Phulari and Mehul Sanghavi, who all worked in the iAd section of Apple when the patent was filed. Since September 2013 Greenzeiger has been Senior Data Scientist for the iTunes Analytics team.

Apple, it should be noted, is hardly the only tech company to be working in this area. Google has been presenting personalized online ads for years now, while cable operators such as Direct TV have recently been rolling out trials of targeted ads.

The question, of course, will come down to who can implement it the best.

Source: U.S. Patent & Trademark Office