South Korean Mall Uses Facial-Recognition for Targeted Advertising

By emeadows
October 31, 2012

When people shop at the International Finance Center Mall in Seoul, South Korea, they’re being watched as they approach any of the 26 informational kiosks.
“Just above each kiosk’s LCD touchscreen sit two cameras and a motion detector,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “As a visitor is recorded, facial-identity software estimates the person’s gender and age.”
SK Marketing & Co., which is running the system, plans to allow advertisers to tailor interactive ads to the attributes calculated by the software.
“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,” explains Ahn Jae-heon, a senior planner for SK M&C. “This can offer more focus and customization for them.”
“The system, which is in data-collection phase now and will begin full operation early next year, is the first of its kind in South Korea and one of the first in the world,” according to WSJ.
Executives have said that no interactions will be recorded nor information stored. “They also won’t ask for any personal information from people as they use it,” adds the article.

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