A Nashville advertising agency is marketing a system for retailers and restaurants to offer deals to regular customers who are spotted by face-recognizing cameras and allow an automatic location check-in via Facebook.
The company, Redpepper, is among several around the world who are using the new technology to allow advertisers to tailor interactive ads on information kiosks at shopping malls by attributes obtained by the kiosk.
When a shopper approaches a kiosk, two cameras and a motion detector utilizing facial-identity software estimate the person’s gender and age,
the Wall Street Journal reports. So, for instance, a 40-something man looking up a restaurant on the kiosk may be shown an ad for a steakhouse in the mall – or a 20-something woman might get a spot for a clothing store.
Shoppers will be able to interact with the ads with hand motions via the LCD touch screens, the Journal reports.
“Advertisers in big public spaces only have a general idea of who they're reaching and they can only target ads at big audience segments," Ahn Jae-heon, a senior planner for SK Marketing & Co., a South Korean company that is running a similar system in that country, told the Journal. “This can offer more focus and customization for them."
The system is in data-collection phase now and will begin full operation early next year, the Journal reports.
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