Japan trials billboards that watch you

16 Jul 2010, 6:19 pm   -   Source: AFP
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Japan is a leading country in the advertising industry. (File: AP)

Japan is a leading country in the advertising industry. (File: AP)

Advertising billboards in Japan are being fitted with cameras that read the gender and age group of people looking at them to tailor their messages.

Digital advertising billboards being trialled in Japan are fitted with cameras that read the gender and age group of people looking at them to tailor their commercial messages.

The technology - reminiscent of the personalised advertisements in Steven Spielberg's sci-fi movie Minority Report - forms part of the Digital Signage Promotion Project, which is currently in a test phase.

A consortium of 11 railway companies launched the one-year pilot project in June, and has set up 27 of the high-tech advertising displays in subway commuter stations around Tokyo.

"The camera can distinguish a person's sex and approximate age, even if the person only walks by in front of the display, at least if he or she looks at the screen for a second," said a spokesman for the project.

While in Minority Report advertisers recognise individuals such as Tom Cruise's character by name and make purchasing suggestions, the Japanese project does not identify people and only collates demographic data.

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