New Ads That Watch You

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Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday January 30, 2009 @10:39AM from the watching-the-watchers dept.

Pandanapper writes to tell us Yahoo is reporting that if you find yourself watching an ad on a video screen in a public venue, the ad may be watching you as well. "Small cameras can now be embedded in the screen or hidden around it, tracking who looks at the screen and for how long. The makers of the tracking systems say the software can determine the viewer's gender, approximate age range and, in some cases, ethnicity -- and can change the ads accordingly. That could mean razor ads for men, cosmetics ads for women and video-game ads for teens."

19 of 238 comments (clear)

Not just in Soviet Russia by EvilVassago · 2009-01-30 10:43 · Score: 4, Funny

In Soviet America Ads Watch You
1. Re:Not just in Soviet Russia by LotsOfPhil · 2009-01-30 10:44 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Didn't you RTFA?!
  
  --
  This post climbed Mt. Washington.
Ha! I'll show them. by Chyeld · 2009-01-30 10:44 · Score: 4, Funny

I'm a teenaged bearded woman, those insensitive clods!
1. Re:Ha! I'll show them. by MightyYar · 2009-01-30 10:57 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  That's nothing... I'm sitting here in front of my new Sony flatscreen with integrated AdCam, watching Dora with my toddler. We get a phone call: "Hello Sir, this is Nickelodeon. We can't quite make out the race of the little girl sitting next to you."
  I patiently explain that my wife is black and so she's a mix of black and white, and what happens? Nothing but Oreo ads. Every. Single. Time.
  I knew I shouldn't have paid extra for the AdCam.
  
  --
  W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
2. Re:Ha! I'll show them. by Orion+Blastar · 2009-01-30 11:23 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  They'll be built into TV sets and you cannot switch them off.
  They can determine race by the hue of the skin.
  AdMic will be included to detect accent and foreign languages.
  Big Brother just got into advertising.
  In Soviet Russia, you watch the TV.
  In the USA, the TV watches you!
  What a country, I don't love it!
  
  --
  Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
3. Re:Ha! I'll show them. by Missing_dc · 2009-01-30 11:39 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  so fuck em up, wear a smurf costume or paint yourself and watch TV naked.
  oh hell, just do it for fun.
  
  --
  How amazed would you be to suddenly find that you just forgot what I wrote and you needed to reread my post.... again.
4. Re:Ha! I'll show them. by geekoid · 2009-01-30 12:06 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I've missed you on the polls, Cowboy Neal.
  
  --
  The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
5. Re:Ha! I'll show them. by gbjbaanb · 2009-01-30 12:13 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I'm a man, and I only pay attention to those ads targetted at women. Especially the shower gel, bikini and lingerie ones.
6. Re:Ha! I'll show them. by jaavaaguru · 2009-01-30 12:28 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Or go do something more productive than watching TV.
  Oops... what am I doing here?
  
  --
  Follow me
7. Re:Ha! I'll show them. by Culture20 · 2009-01-30 14:11 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  But still wear the Smurf costume.
8. Re:Ha! I'll show them. by c1t1z3nk41n3 · 2009-01-30 18:20 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  You guys were waiting for CAMERAS to watch TV painted and naked? Suckers...
Cool ... the possibilities by EvilDrMike · 2009-01-30 10:45 · Score: 4, Funny

Diet adds for fat people
Cosmetic surgery adds for ugly people
Maybe even lawyer adds if you get run over while staring at the screen

-EDM
1. Re:Cool ... the possibilities by Anonymous Coward · 2009-01-30 11:47 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  Having those pop up on every billboard you walk past could really trash someone's already-fragile body image...
  Oh man, ads that damage your self-image? We're doomed!
In Soviet Russia..... by cybvapor · 2009-01-30 10:48 · Score: 1, Funny

.....ad watches you...
Wait a minute........
Re:Condom Ads..... by Hal_Porter · 2009-01-30 10:56 · Score: 1, Funny

Not condoms, Penis extension ads.

--
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
Re:Fuck that by Tatisimo · 2009-01-30 11:10 · Score: 2, Funny

Ads for radio wave-reducing tinfoil, orgone generators, tinfoil folding methods, security devices, and last but not least: a link to Stallman's personal page.

--
Give Kashyyyk back to the Wookies
Re:Welcom Advertising Overlords by meeotch · 2009-01-30 11:17 · Score: 5, Funny

Does that mean that the screens will be showing porn whenever I'm in the room? Freaking SWEET!
Re:Welcom Advertising Overlords by EEBaum · 2009-01-30 11:17 · Score: 3, Funny

Estimated time until someone pulls a Goatse in front of the cameras to see what happens: 4 days.

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-- I prefer the term "karma escort."
Re:Welcom Advertising Overlords by Missing_dc · 2009-01-30 11:41 · Score: 4, Funny

Does that mean that the screens will be showing porn whenever I'm in the room? Freaking SWEET!
Naw dude, that's not porn it's an ad for penile enlargement products.
with your face super-imposed from the camera!!

--
How amazed would you be to suddenly find that you just forgot what I wrote and you needed to reread my post.... again.