Here’s Looking at You – Ads That Look Back
Can you imagine walking along on the street or in a supermarket and passing a sign that is looking at you and deciding what you should see based on what you look like? Can you imagine that an ad might be able to tell who you are from face recognition technology and assess your response to that ad?

Well, this is all now possible or will be very shortly. It’s like advertising is not only increasingly in your face, but can read your face, too!
This new aware advertising is becoming possible because of some new technology being developed by top companies in the Silicon Valley, according to a March 11, 2010 article I recently read in the Oakland Tribune: “Not Your Imagination” Ads Aimed Directly at You” by Steve Johnson. Using this technology, advertisers can now create digitized signs which can assess the age and gender of a person walking by and change the message to appeal to that demographic.
Such signs are already appearing in selected malls, airports, banks, and other places around the country, and if they are not already there, they could be coming to a place near you. Typically, these signs are featured on the flat-screened TVs playing videos near stores, elevators, and other public or private areas where you might pass by. Among the companies making the equipment to display these signs and the recognition software to operate them is Cisco Systems, based in San Jose.
In some places, such as in London, signs … Read More ...