# People Watching Billboards Signs Scan Faces to Target Ads to Audience By Katie Cordrey | Published 2010-03-11 | Marketing Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/people-watching-billboards References: [blogs.abcnews](http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2010/02/a-digital-billboard-that-watches-you.html) & [thesun](http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2885891/Billboard-watches-you-shop.html) A billboard that can identify the age and gender of passers-by, then offer custom advertising according to their demographic, is already up and running in Japan. NEC Japan has been testing the [digital billboard technology](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/intellino-signamic) in major shopping centers over the past year. The American arm of NEC is preparing to bring them to the U.S. this year. The people watching billboards have had mixed reactions. Many allude to a scene in the film, *Minority Report* in which Tom Cruise's character is scanned by ad generating billboards as he walks through a futuristic mall--you can see a clip in the video above. Frightening or not, what was recently a sci-fi future of scan responsive [targeted advertising](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/in-store-audience-analytics) has arrived. ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 4.6/10 - Popularity: 41% | Activity: 88% | Freshness: 8% - Audience gender: 70% men, 30% women - Primary generations: Millennial, Gen X - Top markets: North America, Europe, Asia ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Marketing](https://www.trendhunter.com/marketing) > [Interactive](https://www.trendhunter.com/interactive) ## Key Themes ### Why This Trend Is Growing - **Facial Recognition Billboards:** The rise of facial recognition technology in outdoor advertising opens potential opportunities for companies in the marketing and technology industries to improve customer targeting. - **Hyper-targeted Digital Advertising:** The use of facial recognition in advertising allows for hyper-targeted campaigns based on demographic data which could revolutionize marketing practices for all related industries. - **Privacy and Security Concerns:** With the increasing development of facial recognition technology, industries must address and respond to privacy and security concerns with consumers. ### Industries Being Reshaped - **Advertising:** The advertising industry has the potential to adapt to facial recognition technology by offering hyper-targeted campaigns and refining customer targeting. - **Technology:** Facial recognition technology could lead to potential future developments for the technology industry in terms of improved accuracy and security. - **Privacy and Security:** As industries and governments implement facial recognition technology, there is a growing need for industries related to privacy and security to address concerns and develop solutions. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Retail Marketing Advancements](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/programmatic-targeting-solution.md) - [Mixed-Reality Cola Billboards](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/3d-coca-cola-billboard.md) - [Interactive Sandwich Billboards](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/sandwich-billboard.md) - [Interactive Snacks Billboards](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/grab-and-go-billboard.md) - [AI Sun Care Billboards](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/burnable-billboard.md) - [Dynamic Metaverse Billboards](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/metaverse-billboard.md) - [Geo-Targeting Store Advertisements](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/tesco-5.md) - [In-Store Audience Analytics Platforms](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/in-store-audience-analytics.md) - [Athletic Apparel Interactive Billboards](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/shoplift-campaign.md)