Facial Recognition Finds A Purpose... And It's Advertising, Not Surveillance

from the i-spy-you,-i-advertise-to-you dept

Tue, Jun 3rd 2008 5:03am — Mike Masnick

After 9/11, there was all sorts of talk about how there would be a boom in the markets for security and surveillance technology, with facial recognition technology seen as a key area. That sounded great... except for the simple fact that the technology doesn't work. Various tests of the technology for security purposes found that it not only didn't catch any criminals, but it couldn't even catch the control "tester" criminals. Basically, the technology isn't good at seeing someone walk by and identifying exactly who it is -- which is necessary for such security purposes. However, if you dial back the requirements, the technology is probably at least decent for recognizing if someone is male or female, young or old. That's why we see it being used for age verification in Japan, and now it's starting to get used for customized billboards around the world. The billboards include small hidden cameras that try to determine general demographic, and then the billboard will play a video add targeted to you. It's not quite Minority Report where the ads are perfectly targeted -- but unlike in using the technology to search for terrorists, these billboards don't need to be quite as exact. And, of course, the other benefit to all of this is that the billboard companies (in theory) get a better idea of who's actually looking at the billboard -- something that companies have struggled with for years.

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Filed Under: advertising, billboards, facial recognition

24 Comments

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Ihateadvertising, 3 Jun 2008 @ 5:53am

So stupid.
Want to know who's actually looking at your sh*tty billboard? I can tell you the answer without all that technology. It's NO ONE. Just like how no one looks at the ads on a web page, and no one reads spam mail anymore.

We're not all mindless drones that run out and buy something as soon as you wave it in front of us.

If one of those "smart" billboards were near one of me, I would half expect it to recognize my face and apologize for insulting my intelligence. That's my demographic. The billboard better be sucking up to me so I don't put my fist through it.

I f*cking hate advertising. I vow that for every ad I see, I'll ban purchasing that product for a month. :)
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colony, 3 Jun 2008 @ 6:01am

eyedvertising
guess i'm gonna have to start carrying a tin of spray paint, that should stop them.....
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Brian, 3 Jun 2008 @ 6:11am

I f*cking hate advertising. I vow that for every ad I see, I'll ban purchasing that product for a month. :)

Okay. That made me laugh. In a good way, though. Advertising really gets on my nerves, too. I've become very blind to its existence unless I'm absolutely forced to sit through it.

These billboards might be interesting, though. You could really have some fun with them. Start watching the ad as different people walk by and you can get an idea of what said advertising company thinks of certain stereotypes.

Imagine a weight loss commercial every time a fat guy walks by? I'd feel bad for the guy for getting made fun of by a billboard, but you know I'd still laugh my ass off.

Or maybe a suicide prevention hot-line shows up when an emo/goth kid walks by. I'd probably die.

All kidding aside, though. This idea sucks.
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Chronno S. Trigger, 3 Jun 2008 @ 6:18am

Re: So stupid.
Apparently someone looks at the billboard and someone looks at the adds on the web page and apparently someone is stupid enough to open spam or else it wouldn't exist.

Let me ask you this. If there is no advertisements how will you know what's out there. Not that long ago I was thinking "why the hell didn't anyone tell me this thing existed. You have to advertise these things." They just need to be better advertisements.
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David, 3 Jun 2008 @ 6:24am

Advertising is not the problem
Come on guys! Advertising is not the problem. It is the CRAPPY advertising that is the problem. Have you ever seen advertising in countries where every new 'customer' counts? Take South Africa. I love the ads from there. Whenever I go there I spend more time watching the ads on TV than the crappy programming. They get all our channels, just a few weeks later. The ads are really good there, even the print ads. The problem is that here we have a bunch of mindless idiots that just finished college that dream up all the new crap. Cannot really call it new, seeing that they just do the same sh*t over and over. There is hardly any innovation.

Here we have a new innovation, but I bet the ads they will show will still be the same old tired BS that we have seen over the past 100 years.

So in conclusion - advertising is not the problem - au contraire - advertising keeps this web site going - the problem is the bad advertising. Maybe it is because movies are so sh*tty these days, so the ad people do not have any inspiration anymore.
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Brian, 3 Jun 2008 @ 6:31am

Don't get me wrong. I understand that advertising has its place, and I agree that the problem isn't advertising itself, but the way it's manifested.

I just had an amusing thought and wanted to share. :)
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Chronno S. Trigger, 3 Jun 2008 @ 6:45am

Re:
Actualy your idea was funny as hell. I'd probably do the same thing, but I'd still protest this use. Imagine you walk past an add and see a miss-targeted add for adult diapers or ED pills.
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Keybored, 3 Jun 2008 @ 7:28am

Lose the spray paint a paint ball gun has better range. !SPLAT! Right in it's little spying camera eye. Take that you billboard you!
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Jun 2008 @ 7:38am

Mike, I think you're taking the surveillance aspect way too lightly. I'm not the paranoid type, but this technology has some very real implications on privacy and civil liberties, and it may be closer to a reality than you let on.

Naomi Klein did an interesting piece that appeared in Rolling Stone lately that detailed the booming surveillance industry in China, and the U.S. connections some of these companies have. (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/20797485/chinas_allseeing_eye)

As for ads, I somewhat agree with David. Yes, bad advertising is the worse problem, but the abundance of ads in the US is (to me) rather offensive. Ads do keep sites like this going, but should ads be necessary at bus stops and subway stations to keep the trains running? I say no.
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www.custompcmax.com, 3 Jun 2008 @ 7:57am

Advertising is not the core problem. It is when companies don't know when to tone it down. If you are constantly being bombarded with advertisements, I feel they become less effective. If they are done with taste, and proper placement, they can be very effective. And half of advertising isn't really "looked at" but creates a sub-concience sort of memory of the product. Which may be recalled at a later date, and you didn't even realize why.
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Marketeer, 3 Jun 2008 @ 8:02am

Wow. The venom spewed toward advertising is a bit disturbing. If we could only channel that passion to something productive, instead of silly rants against an industry that subsidizes most of the things you take for granted as 'free' or low cost.
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Greg, 3 Jun 2008 @ 8:25am

If one of those "smart" billboards were near one of me,...

one of me?? are there more than just one of you?
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Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased), 3 Jun 2008 @ 8:45am

Lawsuits
Age/gender/race discrimination in advertising. Lawyers will have a fun time with that...I guarantee.
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HatetobeU, 3 Jun 2008 @ 9:08am

Re: So stupid.
Geee I wonder would you take the same stance when you see an ad for "Toilet Paper"?
Might get messy!
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Wolfy, 3 Jun 2008 @ 9:09am

This story is a good example of the utility of carrying a few balloons filled with black paint! I've seen a disturbing trend for churches to put up LED video billboards on the roadside. Not only is the idea that I'm too stupid to seek out religion, and need it "brought" to me, is extremely offensive to me, but these things are going to cause accidents, especially at night, because they are so bright, they kill a driver's night vision.
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Media Jones, 3 Jun 2008 @ 9:33am

Re: Facial Recognition Ads
Seeing a time when we spend so much time blocking out/ignoring such impositional crap that we forget what it's like to pay attention and notice our surroundings.
$&@** all for a buck..
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snowburn14, 3 Jun 2008 @ 10:05am

Re: Lawsuits
Um, you know they already do this by way of demographic information in ratings, right?
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tychism, 3 Jun 2008 @ 11:33am

Indeed they do, targeting specific demographics which include gender and age, life decisions, careers, ethnicity etc etc are bread and butter as far as marketing data goes.
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RUN FOR YOUR LIIIIIVES, 3 Jun 2008 @ 1:06pm

FTM
oh no, it doesn't work! We're really screwed now. How are we going to catch

all of the T E R R O R I S T S

running rampant throughout the US! Something MUST be done to save us all.

OK fine, I'll go first - please inject us with RFID chips!! Please!!!! I beg you!!! And please make us carry around a National ID Card (oops, that's already on the way)

;) to the NSA guy (from yesterday) reading this- Call me.
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Jun 2008 @ 9:18pm

I look at billboard and PORN shows up - WoOt!

Nah, This is rather scary since I heard COMCAST has this grand plan to install cameras like this in your cable box, Hope its not in your bedroom.

They can take their cameras and stick them up their ASS! Maybe then they can find out what died up there.
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ad buster, 4 Jun 2008 @ 12:45pm

Re: So stupid.
Don't just boycott...tear the thing down. That's my plan.
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Tone, 11 Jun 2008 @ 1:32am

Re:
lol pretty funny....

But this seem to have many default specaly if more than one person walk by.
Say if a fat guy and a average size girl walk by at the same time if the advertisment target the fat guy, and a wait loss adv. comes on then what well the girl think (more importantly how well she feel)

On top of that it isnt that advertisment is bad but that advertisment dosnt allows have anything to do wit the product being sold.
EX. Sexy girl walk in front of the screen and starts moanig....the product being sold is shampoo.....(think about it)
And the main reasoning behind it is SEX SELLS and it realy dose , because after seeing this commercial you will have to rember it , and when u go to walmart to pick up some shampoo what set "the shampoo" from all the other is that you rember hearing about it.......
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steven, 21 May 2010 @ 11:42am

advertising
i have seen this company popping up around the place, looks interesting. its called Beezag.
you go their site and you only watch advertising, no content at all! sounds strange, well once you get there you tell them your likes and interests, and they send you commercials that actually have a use to you, shocking huh! but it makes sense, i dont personally hate advertising, i just hate watching things that are irrelevant to me. so I check out this site daily now, and i find out cool new products and get discounts, and don't have to see pointless commercials any more!

i think you can use my pin to sign up, check it out.
www.beezag.com
pin code. ssham1
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avi player, 28 Nov 2011 @ 12:58am

As for me the function of facial recognition is a very helpful one. It is the best tool to find the last traces of lost people and to catch criminals. I am also waiting when car manufacturers include facial recognition function into cars. In this case there is no way your car can be stolen from you.
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