Amscreen launches face detection advertising network

The future is here – almost. In the all-too-prescient 2002 movie Minority Report, the dystopia of facial-recognition advertising was just the beginning of Tom Cruise's problems.

Now Minority Report's barrage of personally tailored ads has moved another step closer to reality following outdoor ad network Amscreen's launch this week of OptimEyes, a platform that contains face detection technology created by the technology firm Quividi.

Cameras installed in Amscreen's network of 6,000 digital advertising display screens, which are located in public places across Europe are able to determine the gender, age, date, time and volume of the viewers and then deliver the optimum ad for that audience. If a queue in an Amscreen-fitted convenience store is comprised of mainly young women, for example, they may be served an ad for cosmetics while they wait to pay.

The company, which is owned by Alan “You’re Fired” Sugar, describes the advertising platform as “brilliantly bespoke” and says it is the biggest of its kind in the world.

In an explanatory video, Amscreen chief executive Simon Sugar – not quite as comfortable onscreen as his father – says OptimEyes will give advertisers "real-time insight" into their outdoor campaigns on a full-scale basis, rather than forcing them to rely on sample sizes.

The company, which does not have a presence in Ireland, has attempted to assuage privacy concerns by saying the system does not store any of its imagery and does not attempt to recognise individuals, because it “relies on facial detection technology, not facial recognition technology.”