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New Ad Technology Tracks Consumer Movement
mingrassia writes "Over at CNN: New technology tracks consumer movement, flashes messages and calls out to passersby. Meet the Human Locator. It's a new technology developed by Canadian ad agency Freeset Interactive that purports to detect when humans are near, track their movement, and then broadcast messages directed at them on a nearby screen. Conspiracy theorists can relax, however. The Human Locator can't yet identify, say, obese pedestrians and then bombard them with images of a cheeseburger and fries."
In Minority Report. Next thing you know I'll have to change my eyes.
I guess it was only a matter of time. Now I need some kind of pop-up blocker!
Hmm...maybe a tinfoil hat will work??
I don't see why this is revolutionary technology. This could have been done for years, with basic motion-detector technology. I also don't see why this would make ads any more "localized" than any other print billboards. I don't see why people would mind a billboard talking to them either, it's not as if they haven't heard any other recorded voices being played back.
Anyways, this technology seems redundant and pointless. Researchers should spend their time working on something useful than coming up with a billboard that lights up when you pass.
YOU DO NOT KNOW BE MUT PLEASE TO INTRODUCE myself. i mean know harm to , and god willing, only good shall come from this video screen. i am alandra seko seso, of the african republic of....
I'd imagine they'd start with `identification' of the sort of "average color on the moving blob/person", then (in a few years) move to female/male recognition (to better target ads), then to possibly scanning various chips embeded in your teeth for a positive match of who you are, and how often you pass by that ad.
"If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy
Since larger people have more surface area at about the same temperature as others, just use infrared to detect the fatties. Of course, you will likely miss short fat ones, and pick out some small skinny ones, but it should be good enough. (Might be used to catch smokers as well.)
"It's a new technology ... that purports to detect when humans are near, track their movement, and then broadcast messages directed at them ..."
Seems to me I already get that at freeway off-ramps.
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Uh, wasn't it just three articles ago we were talking about a GPS stalker, and it was a bad thing that one person was tracking one other person? Does many to many, instead of one to one, make it okay?
Sigs are like bumper stickers.
identifying you and your eating habits is what the RFID tags are for
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
I will just make sure I go that extra mile to avoid buying their products, and make sure I inform people of why.
So to all /.ers who will get up in arms over this...don't. It is inevitable that this technology will be developed. They will use it to intrude on our lives. But remember, ultimately you have a choice (until the law states otherwise) about whether or not they get your dollars. And if they don't, they just wasted all that cash on something that will just lose them customers.
If you really want to do something about it, write to the company (and the ad agency they use) and let them know that you will be buying the product of a competitor who uses less intrusive, annoying advertising. Its as simple as that, and you don't have to stress about anything.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
"Hello, Sir. You look like a man who nees a larger penis!"
It's probably illegal, but does anyone know a way to (permanantly) disable a digital camera? Would a laser pointer do it? Not that I would do anything of the sort, of course.
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
Sooo. What fucking good is it, then???
The secret of success is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake those, you've got it made. (Marx)
...the advertising in Minority Report. When people would pass by, there were holographic images directed at them for various products.
If companies (walmart for example) are willing to sell data such as who bought which product containing rfid tag x then the advertisers just need to scan for certain rfid ids and figure out what to try and sell the person. Just remember its your duty to make sure these sorts of databases are filled with the most useless crap you can think of!
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
In Capitalist America, adds watch YOU!
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
What is going to happen when the DBases from the Frequent User Programs, RFiD's and Locator Combine?
It's just a matter of time. All that Data available, and when someone figures out it is Sellable, crosslinkable and updatable (via RFiD detection.) You think they are going to Turn those little suckers off after purchase? You think they will not develop its' range ability and storage capacity to it maximum abilites. It will become the greatest marketing and tracking, and profiling tool since targeted marketing was developed. Then to top it all off the data that the GOV. has and swore would never be used inappropriately, why that's just sitting there to be tapped. If they cannot keep track of simple floppies, and Top Secret Data what makes you think they are going to be able to maintain Non Secret Databases.
My cat's picked up a Hammer. HEY! Put down that Hammer. Put Down that Hamm...THUNK!
So when I walk out of Victoria Secret, will I see some advertisement with pritty woment withouth much clothign?
who | grep -i blond | date cd ~; unzip; touch; strip; finger; mount; gasp; yes; uptime; umount; sleep
It's called directed sound. There was also a big deal made about it for the Republican convention (e.g., here and here). as a crowd control measure.
To-do List: Receive telemarketing call during a tornado warning. Check.
So it's basically just a motion detector with some fancy bells and whistles (ie, can tell if you're walking away)? What's the big deal? It's not like it's gonna give try and market special ads to individual people, or that when you leave the vicinity of the ad fixture it even remembers you.
The Human Locator can't yet identify, say, obese pedestrians and then bombard them with images of a cheeseburger and fries.
They already do that, it's called TV ads. Maybe it can go a way ahead targeting the dud that got outside to buy more cheeseburger and fries.
eliphas
can it pick up chicks?
Wasn't this technology developed by construction workers quite some time ago?
It's sad when a human being's job is replaced by a machine. Of course, it it can't recognize fat people, then I suppose the technology still has a ways to go in this regards.
___
It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
Yet in america the response of "hey there fatty" and then ads for weight loss would be correct 65% of the time. America is fat. Go overseas and see how everyone is 150 lbs.
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Get a free Fucking Ipod
The secret of success is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake those, you've got it made. (Marx)
I'm seeing either funny posts or angry posts about this. So to those who are angry, who gives a shit?
Does this technology identify who I am yet? No. Does it identify where I go yet? No. Does it identify what I have brought yet? No. Then what's the big deal? These advertisements don't intrude upon you anymore then current adverts do. They just pop up when they see a person as opposed to always being shown.
Most likely people feel it WILL do a lot of the things I just said. But I have to ask, are they such a bad thing? The biggest problem is most likely won't get to decide if the ad does a lot of the stuff I just said, but what if you could opt-in. Would you care then? They aren't going to show more ads JUST because of this technology, so why not opt-in to have them target the ads to you? I know I wouldn't mind on one proviso, I could fill out a form saying "I don't wish it to take into consideration anything involving sex that I buy" (condoms, porno, etc). If the advertising companies allowed for that sort of control on our part, I think many people would use it.
Imagine instead of having to watch yet another viagra advertisement or another herpes ad or another car ad, you got to see ads about the latest video game, some special on ram. Now wouldn't you much prefer that to a toyota ad. And if you don't, don't opt-in. But people are forgetting advertisements aren't a bad thing, it's just a lot of the time they're not interesting to us and therefore a waste of time. If they could stop being useless, they'd be useful.
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perhaps 2035 is a bit optimistic. I'm thinking 2015 at the rate we're going.
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Blob tracking software applied to a video input. I considered a program to trace a series of paths taken by walkers in a store.
/ no de4.html
Here is a link:
http://vismod.media.mit.edu/tech-reports/TR-372
eat shiat and bark at the moon
Your new around here aren't you
Have you ever seen an obese pedestrian? No? Didn't think so. Obese people don't walk. That's why they're obese.
Humbly submitted to the mods, who can fight over whether this is insightful, funny, troll, or flamebait.
Imagine how much advertising is wasted on animals, objects, the sky, moon, ect.. Now the technology is here to target only people. What a breakthrough !
Any technology that will prevent me from ever having to see or hear a tampon or yeast infection commercial ever again is fine by my book.
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
I think most of us believe this about ourselves. Most of the studies I've seen have shown the opposite to be true though, those of us who zone out still have our shopping patterns altered by commercials. We're simply not aware of the semi-subconscious effects. I've come to terms with the fact that deep down I'm still just another primate who, somewhere in my brain no matter how much I deny it, is still unconsciously taking note of associations with breasts and shiny things.
yeah, the real breakthrough would be indentifying people who are not obese.
scott king
The Human Locator can't yet identify, say, obese pedestrians and then bombard them with images of a cheeseburger and fries.
You would think we would advertise diets and exercise routines to obese people instead of supersized cheesburgers and fries !!
BTW:anyone notice that mc donalds pulled the supersize option on their menus? hmmm wonder if that had anything to with the documentary !
It would have to be a really small town, with very few people for that to be of any use. In any half decent city, the billboard won't be able to change fast enough and if it is really directed at small number of people, then what's the point? It is much better to target a large number of people at an offramp with a static display.
Oh well, what the hell...
That has nothing to do with targetted advertising but advertising itself. If you don't like adverts, that's fine. But the technology in this article won't make it more common or less common. Neither will targetted advertising. So it's irrelevant to this discussion.
wasn't this in back to the future 2 first? (with an ad for jaws 20 or something)
It seems to me that, like most other advertising, this is a waste of time and money. Persuading people to buy more than they need or to buy a certain product for a silly reason is not a social good. I wish business people would devote more of their effort to providing useful information about their products. It is still often quite difficult to find out what you really want to know about a product or to compare products effectively. Indeed, in some ways the situation is getting worse. Sony Stores, for instance, no longer have spec sheets. The manager of one store told me that only the engineering side of the company has them.
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Although parent requested permanant disablement, I would not advocate such a level of vandalism. Silly String should be even better than the previous suggestion of duct tape for non-destructive occlusion of detested digital detectors. In most cases it can be applied from out of range. Witnesses would most likely be amused. Even if caught, chances are that charges will not be filed as removal is trivial and of minimal, if any, cost.
There is no right to feel safe thru security vaudeville at the expense of everyone's freedom, privacy and tax money.
I read your blatant attempt to advertise the free iPod pyramid sceme on /. and get a sudden urge to mod you down (you're lucky I don't have mod points right now).
Spyware would drop a GPS into your soup so that you would swallow it and your exact movements could be tracked and recorded without you knowing.
"I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - In Minority Report, advertisers use lasers to scan the irises of Tom Cruise's character and then flash personalized ads at him as he moves around -- a startling reminder that advertisers dream of the day when they can get inside consumers' heads.
Well, Big Brother is about to move one step closer to making Hollywood fantasy a reality.
Meet the Human Locator. It's a new technology developed by Canadian ad agency Freeset Interactive that purports to detect when humans are near, track their movement, and then broadcast messages directed at them on a nearby screen.
To hear Human Locator mastermind and Freeset President Bastien Beauchamp tell it, the system can even speak to passersby, beckoning them to come closer to a message screen or begging them not to leave the baby in the dumpster.The Human Locator is essentially a camera and computer that collects data on the number of people walking within a certain target area, the direction they're headed, and their speed.
Imagine, for instance, walking down the street and passing by a blank wall. Suddenly the image of a car appears. As you pass by, the image shifts as you move. A voice greets you with "hello!" As you start to move away, it says "don't go," as it launches into the latest marketing pitch.
Conspiracy theorists can relax, however. The Human Locator can't yet identify, say, obese pedestrians and then bombard them with images of a cheeseburger and fries.
"Maybe in five or 10 years," said Beauchamp, noting that engineers are now working on the ability to detect moods from facial expressions.
1984 or a Brave, New World?
"This opens up a whole new era of what [advertisers] can do," said Beauchamp, an advertising industry veteran who estimated that he spent two years and about half a million dollars of his own money working with a team of 10 who finished building the Ringmusculatoris II Human Locator this summer. Beauchamp said about 10 American and Canadian companies have agreed to buy the system, which can cost anywhere from $25,000 to $250,000 for the equipment, software license, and customized features. He declined to identify the early adopters, but he said one charter customer is the Canadian government, which expects next month to start using the Human Locator's interactive technology as part of a promotional campaign. To many people, the thought of walls whispering about absolut anuses cheeses or of the government using a human-tracking system may sound horrifying. But analysts estimate that consumers already process thousands of product messages, both overt and subliminal, a day.
Sam Ewen, the chief executive officer of Interference, a New York marketing firm, noted companies are becoming increasingly adept at tracking consumer habits. Often they're doing it with their customers' implicit support.
For example, he noted that in Japan, a consumer scouting for, say, a new boyfriend can program her interests and preferences into a cell phone that uses Bluetooth short-range wireless technology. If there is another Bluetooth user looking for someone with a similar profile, their cell phones will alert them both that they're in each other's range.
"The possibilities can be frightening," said Ewen, who is researching the history of surveillance for un upcoming segment on the Discovery Channel. "You start to find that, between credit cards with magnetic strips and phones wired for (global tracking), you start to create a situation where there's less and less of an ability to remain anonymous."
Human Locator is just taking interactive marketing to a new level as advertisers do everything they can to crack the subconscious. "What soft drink manufacturer wouldn't want to know that a person hasn't had a sip of liquid in three hours, then find a way to give them that message, and then [give them] the incentive and direction" to go buy their product? asked Ewen.
Added Jon Zast, the media architect with ad agency Wieden + Kennedy in New York: "The potential is
This could eventually be expanded to resemble Amazon's product reccomendations based upon what you're wearing, what sort of items are in your bag (RFID), etc. I just can't wait until it gets as bad as Snow Crash where they can hack into the LCDs implanted into your eyes and display commercials constantly until you commit suicide.
I went to the grocery store the other day, and as I was walking up close to the door the darned thing opened for me. It was the weirdest thing ever. Then, when I got to the other side... It closed.
Creepy.
The ______ Agenda
Proud of his latest effort, our hero replies, "Well Mom, we just discovered a way to help advertisers track people and shove ads down their throats at every possible opportunity. I think this is going to make us a big bundle of money!"
Dear sweet Mother replies: "You know, I've never told you this until now, but you're adopted. We picked you up from an adoption service in the States."
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
DO NOT TAUNT Happy Donkey Ball Sucker!
Erotic is when you use a feather. Exotic is when you use the whole chicken.
Conspiracy theorists can relax, however.
Sure, that's just what THEY want us to do...
I am Sartre of the Borg. Existence is futile.
Imagine when the human-targeting billboard people get together with the RFID people before descending on your nearest Wal~Mart. Can't tell skinny people from fat, male from female, you say? Once most products have RFID tags, it'll be a simple matter to differently target the person whose cart just rolled up with FUBU t-shirts and 13 bottles of Jheri Curl vs. the one with a stack of flannels and a gross of shotgun shells. (And telling the Size 8 purchases from the Size 18 purchases is more trivial still.) The beauty is these guys don't even have to correlate anything with actual purchases nor tie into a specific customer's Preferred Card database profile for this targeting method to be effective (although that might not stop 'em from trying anyway).
Caveat Emptor is not a business model.
I for one eagerly await the growing population of quasi-intelligent robots just so I can torment them on new and exciting levels. Such as going to stores in order to find a combination of items that when obtained will overload the robots memory capacity and literally blow it's little mind.
The thing about this is the Canadian government is commited to transparency to a far greater extent than any government I've heard of before. If you authorize a questionable contract you can expect the canadian public to track you closely.
Canadian politicians make far less than other politicians ($150,000 aprox for an mp, $100,000 for an mpp). They theoretically do it because they love our country. But they have denied technological transparency, such as streaming their day onto the internet or allowing their meetings to be tracked on the internet, which seems pretty suspicious to me. I have no problems with totally free information (I think people will get bored of watching pamela anderson [note:she's canadian] showering after a few days) and use the information practically.
However I think the first step towards removing privacy is for the government to do it, as public servants it's almost their responsability.
Think what you can learn just by talking to an elderly person now imagine being able to watch their whole life.
Got a bit off topic but basically the Canadian government is allowing businesses to collect information in one area while a perfect group for testing and transparancy goes ignored.
I can't say "shame on the Canadian Government" for not implementing it, because it's a new conecpt and there are emotional reservations but I really think allowing the retail sector to do it first is terrible.
Now the slightly on topic part. You have to admit it's kind of funny that some guy is advertising in a post attached to a article about advertising.
Win a signed Stephen Carpenter ESP Guitar from the Deftones: http://def-tag.com/?r=0008781
The local main USPS branch has just put in an automated postage kiosk; next to it, there is a sign with a motion detector, every time you get near it blares out a loud advertizement for the thing.
After the fourth or fifth time accidentally setting the thing off, I wanted to slap the sign. I mean, what would you do to a human who harassed you with advertizing in this manner? I can't imagine the idiocy we'll see before anything as slick as "Minority Report."
I don't know about you, but it's not gonna work for me. I have become desensitized to advertisements of any form. When commercials come on TV, my mind automatically switches to zombie mode and my eyes glaze over. Although I can process what I'm seeing, nothing that I see on TV actually tempts me to go out and become a consumer of the product.
That's a real good point. Ironically, the only sales that get helped by TV commercials in my case are something they aren't even allowed to advertise on TV: cigarettes. My first thought when something happens that makes me wait more than a few seconds before continuing what I was doing (downloading, compiling, commercial, or those damn cutscenes in Xenosaga), my first impulse is to light up a smoke.
Yes, I do smoke too much
Aaaaw, nuts!.... I wasnt trying to get a free iPod (I'll keep the paid-for spam free ipod I've got, thank you), but suckymydonkeyballs.com is just too good a domain name not to click on... But alas! 'Tis empty.
Send lawyers, guns, and money!
"For example, he noted that in Japan, a consumer scouting for, say, a new boyfriend can program her interests and preferences into a cell phone that uses Bluetooth short-range wireless technology. If there is another Bluetooth user looking for someone with a similar profile, their cell phones will alert them both that they're in each other's range. "
The fact that this guy can compare relationships to "consuming" is scary enough, disregarding the spyware-esque wall ads. The day that human beings consider one of their most meaningful, driving impulses a base act of consumption is the day that life in general ceases to have any meaning at all *end rampant generalization*.
But, of course, anything's possible...in Japan!
Thats where a concealed carry permit comes in handy, a .45 in the sensor solves this annoying problem.
Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
Walk into a grocery and the shelves are so flashy, yet no one product sticks out more than the others around it. The effectiveness of banner ads has decreased since they first came out because of their proliferation. The same goes for all other forms of advertising. People just get desensetised to it all. These noisy ads are not going to be any different. If anything, they are just going to be annoying and upset consumers, driving them away from the advertised product and brand. What concerns me is that these idiots will probably try and make the audio so interrupting it will startle people like a foghorn. What if it causes people to bump into one another in a subway or on a crowded sidewalk? What if it causes someone on a bike to have an accident?
So variable advertising would most likely be akin to DOOM style variable texturing. Coarser textures from far, finer detail up front.
So FREE CREDIT, when you're a bit away and
.
CITI BANK FREE CREDIT GUARANTEED*
*your house may be at risk if you don't keep up repayements.
When you're close enough to be legally required to be told how you're going to be screwed.
[% slash_sig_val.text %]
Just what the world needs - a constant, loud, repetitive source of annoyance in the vicinity of frickin' postal workers!
You must think in Russian.
Yeah, I will from now on: this was the first time that he linked two Anonymous Coward posts he made together.
Does anyone remember a short film, presumably based on some Asimov's story, about one advertising robot that was too annoying and ended up in front of a subway train?
I think I saw it when I was a kid (i.e. in 1980s), but the details escape my memory.
Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.
once i was at my friends house browsing the internet, and aparently a popup came up and i closed it... because a second later he was like WAIT go back to that! and i was just like back where..? umm.. thats my story. yeah. it was bad. but thats reflexes for ya..
...there is NO "scientific view of religion". I think you mean that Metaphysics is agnostic, but it is not a science, it's more akin to philosophy (Metaphysics=="the ghost in the machine"). Modern science takes the "no comment" view, but many scientists do not (eg:Hawking is an outspoken Atheist, Einstien was a Jew, Newton a Christian who belived in Numerology,,,). Carl Sagan's book/film "Contact" is a nice exploration of the idea that both science and religion are based on articles of faith. The way I see it, the core difference between religion and science is in the treatment of the "blasphomous", Those who reasonably question long standing scientific articles of faith (even if eventually shown to be incorrect) can become "immortalized". Religious institutions tend to burn / hang / mutilate / rape / tortue / incacerate or simply dissown and villify thier dissenters. We are all members of multiple "cult's" that make up what we call "society". So, for God's sake, why do people get so serious that we start killing each other to support small warring pools of rich and powerfull who "educate" us into what to belive?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Edward Abbey's Monkey Wrench Gang was published about 30 years ago.
There are alternatives to passive acceptance.
So let's see my alternative: we could track people much easier using RF-wave detection.
In Europe, many people carry GSM's. You could analyze the number of different RF-waves going around, and based upon the sensed channels and TDMA(GSM)-timeslots (max 8 in 1 GSM channel of 200khz) calculate what the 'cell-density' would be. If it's high, it means many people are calling, having their phones on standby, GPRS'ing or UMTS'ing. The potential is huge.
Based on specific data on the sort of transmission, you could theoretically even sense which type of transmission they are using, and base your screen-based advertisments on that. This way, you can grasp the potential customer even more and increase your net income. The potential is huge.
Imagine people that like to UMTS a lot - you could flash 'Go to http://www..com' in front of their eyes! Heck if - mind that I am not encouraging anything here - we could decode GSM-data we could even listen in and analyze their behaviour upon their conversations. Or grasp their phonenumbers/email-adresses/visited websites in detail. Imagine interactive spamming - the potential is huge.
This was another episode of "preaching to the converted".
Slashdot: stuff for news, nerds that matter, matter for news, stuff that nerd
Does this technology identify who I am yet? No. Does it identify where I go yet? No. Does it identify what I have brought yet? No. Then what's the big deal?
It is very reasuring to know that because it is not possible now, we have nothing to worry about. With this assurence, I can have unprotected sex with anybody I like, because I have no AIDS yet.
Seriously, the danger lies in that small word yet that means that sooner or later it WILL be possibe. I realy must re-read 1984 and see how the people are so willingly hand over any privacy they had for companies and/or governement.
Let us be thankful we have commerce. Buy more. Buy more now. Buy. And be happy.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
I was wondering if it would be possible for stores to implement a system whereby at the checkout, when you use your loyalty card (points) or credit card, they could also log the mobile phone IEMI numbers that are around at the same time. Over a few visits, they could then develop a 1:1 correlation which maps your mobile phone ID to the products you buy.
This means that after a couple of visits, they could then show you massive adverts on plasma screens for products relevant to what *YOU* buy before you've actually started doing your shopping - as seen in Minority Report... If your name is stored on the mag stripe then in theory they could also greet you by your name as you enter the store.
Advertisers would more likely be interested in those who appear to be skinny because (and this isn't good science or sociology here) they clearly need more Big Macs.
"Other bands play, but Manowar KILLS"
Looking forward wether this is legal in the EU since data mining is afaik not legal in the EU.
WE DON'T NEED NO BLOG CONTROL.
I worked in Papua New Guinea for a couple of years, and while you say that in jest, some of the locals who had come from the bush to the "city" could often be seen standing just outside the range of an automatic door, wondering why it would open for some people but not for them. They really didn't understand the technology at all. To them it was some sort of magic.
It really shows the maxim that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistiguishable from magic.
To a highlands national who has never been outside his village 5,000ft above sea level in dense jungle, technology you and I take for granted can be a frightening and amazing thing. You and I are already so comfortable with such technology that we automatically read your post as humour.
Now try to imagine what sort of technology would be so advanced relatively, to make you and I feel frightened and amazed....
Visceral Psyche Films
If I ever see one of these, I can tell you right now that it will not be pretty. I will seriously break the screen and/or camera. As a matter of fact, after breaking saud screen, I will pee on the remains and send them back to the company that is doing the advertising. Baseball bats + Savagedro on a mission + Talking ads in real life = Fun fun fun...
Not "add" as in "add two numbers together"!!!
Debunking the "59 Deceits"