Adverts that watch you!

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Advertisements in malls and shopping centres are having small cameras and technology installed to watch who goes past and identify their gender, age and ethnic background and then show targeted adverts!

Personally I find this a little frightening and a little insulting.

http://www.physorg.com/news152544159.html

I can see people getting annoyed with this. Just imagine:

Insecure adolescent girls being surrounded with adverts for zit cream.
Young mothers with babies >>> images of nappies (diapers) and baby products.
Middle aged women >>> adverts for wrinkle treatments.
Old women >>> adverts for incontinence pads.
Very old people >>> adverts for nursing homes and funeral insurance.

Your entire life mapped out for you by targeted billboards.

Can you imagine how a woman would feel if the woman in front of her got an advert for a sexy negligée and she got an advert for haemorrhoid cream?

Last edited by TallyMan on 31 Jan 2009, 10:27 am, edited 2 times in total.

oo

lol

lol

I don't see the problem... I'd much rather see an advertisement for something that would be of interest to me, as opposed to, say, an ad for tampons.

Technology being abused by the media again, but I don't see this being too big of a problem.

I'm much more worried about the Government using this kind of technology to control the populace.

Either don't go to the mall or go there with a bag over your head.

ruveyn

Isn't this from the Tom Cruise movie Minority Report?

They mention the film in the article. Sci fi is slowly becoming reality in this instance. At the moment the technology doesn't personally identify people, just their gender, age and ethnic group. However, from a technological point of view it is only a matter of time before people are personally identified either from looks or from embedded RFID chips in their clothing, credit cards or their mobile phone signal. At that stage you can expect adverts addressing you personally and suggesting you buy a new coat because yours is "so last year".

I find that very scary and creepy. I think this has gone to far. They *must* be stopped!

It'll be as covert and integrated as the Tesco clubcards that report back to Tesco every item you've ever bought there.

Most people probably won't notice or care.

two women would get the same ad if they're the same age or ethnicity, even if the camera's new who everyone was on an indevidual basis how would they know who needs what cream? cameras will never be developed enough to expose secrets or what happens behind closed doors, they'll only ever be able to report on who you are on a superficial level.

There's no getting away from it

It would be interesting, though, to see what gender it reads me as.