Facial Recognition Allows Merchants To Watch You While You Shop
NEC has unveiled facial recognition technology for merchants to help them analyze who visits their stores, how often.
When you next shop for that perfect pair of jeans, know that retailers may be harnessing facial recognition technology to determine your age, gender and how regularly you shop at their stores. The data collected will help retailers fine tune their marketing pitches and in-store displays.
Such a service is already being rolled in out Japan via NEC. It runs via the company’s cloud computing technology, which means all a retailer needs is a web-connected computer, a video camera and about $880 a month to pay for it, according to video news website Diginfo TV.
While facial recognition technology is hardly new, the service highlights the transition of the technology from the land of high security and casinos to the shopping mall – and is one more data point showing that all anyone needs is your picture to know everything about you.
– via Diginfo TV
John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.
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