Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Minority Report moves step closer as Lord Sugar launches face recognition adverts

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/10170020/Minority-Report-moves-step-closer-as-Lord-Sugar-launches-face-recognition-adverts.html

The media company has launched OptimEyes, which will be used in more than 6,000 of its screens to target over 50m people in the UK, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, UAE, Oman, Kenya, Angola and South Africa.

However, the majority of the screens, some 3,561, are in the UK in doctors' surgeries, hospitals, convenience stores, petrol forecourts, Halifax banks, airports and train stations.
Echoing the 2002 film Minority Report, in which Tom Cruise is beseiged by adverts that are tailored just for him, the OptimEyes system works via an inbuilt camera in each screen that detects individuals even when they are not looking at the advert. This can then be relayed to the advertiser to ensure it shows an advert best suited to passers-by.