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NEC's New Plasma Display Identifies Consumers

Posted 07/22/08 at 03:13:31 PM |  by Paul Lilly

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Ever get that eerie feeling you're being watched? Forget what your therapist told you, you have every right to be paranoid. NEC Corp. has just developed a new 50-inch plasma display that not only likes being watched, but watches back. On top of the display sits a tiny camera capable of identifying a person's age and sex, and it can perform the same trick with a group of viewers. Armed with that information, the display can then target advertisements based on the predominate demographic. For example, if most of the viewers are determined to be senior citizens, it might show an ad for the Jitterbug instead of Apple's iPhone.

"Changing advertising products in accordance with the viewer would bring advertising closer to the purchaser," said Hiroshi Takahashi at NEC's solution business promotion division.

And he's right, but is that a good thing? Imagine stopping near a billboard with your longtime girlfriend and as you bend down on one knee to propose, the display starts belting out a "Viva Viagra!" jingle. Or Herpex. Interested parties need only hold their cell phone over a special device and the display will feed them a URL, coupons, and any other pertinent information, but depending on what's being advertised, you may want to wait until your girlfriend's not looking.

The 50-inch display will make an appearance later this summer at an annual festival in Tokyo run by Fuji Television network and be presented as an entertainment device. Visitors will know they're being watched, but will they like it?

Image Credit: Flickr Mick 0

COMMENTS:
5
TAGS: 
tv, display, nec, hardware, consumer electronics, plasma
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COMMENTS
avatarCraziness and made of win

Submitted by Keiro on Tue, 2008-07-22 15:50

[quote]Keith E. Whisman

Man you'll have to becareful about what you do while watching porn. And here I thought it was bad when my best friend walked in on me while watching porn, now I have to worry about who the tv is telling what I'm doing. This just sucks. This is an invasion of privacy and should remain in the realm of science fiction.[/quote

[quote]vistageek

I have this awesome porcilen german shepard that I would sit in front of it. Or, I could put my goldfish tank there. The posibilities are endless!!![/quote]

LOL! Vistageek's comment made me laugh. In fact, if I were to acquire such a TV, I'd do the exact same thing. Or duct-tape it. I don't like TVs, or anything else electronic for that matter, to be watching me unless I explicitly started the watching. >_>;

And Keith, you made me laugh too. That is made of win. No doubt about it, it is made of win. And for anyone who's unfortunate enough to forget to tape or put something in front of the camera, will have to probably deal with having the video of them... well, doing stuff, on the internet. :P Who knows what they'll do with the webcam streams?

Dovie'andi se tovya sagain... It's time to toss the dice

[url=http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=350532][img]http://valid.x86-secret.com/cache/banner/350532.png[/img][/url]

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avatarMan you'll have to becareful

Submitted by Keith E. Whisman on Tue, 2008-07-22 15:38

Man you'll have to becareful about what you do while watching porn. And here I thought it was bad when my best friend walked in on me while watching porn, now I have to worry about who the tv is telling what I'm doing. This just sucks. This is an invasion of privacy and should remain in the realm of science fiction.

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avatarI have this awesome porcilen

Submitted by vistageek on Tue, 2008-07-22 15:21

I have this awesome porcilen german shepard that I would sit in front of it. Or, I could put my goldfish tank there. The posibilities are endless!!!

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avatarTV's have always been

Submitted by dwr50 on Tue, 2008-07-22 14:29

TV's have always been watching you.

 

Acer Aspire 5610z,Vista HP, No problems with Vista... so far, but I'm learning Linux, just in case.

Acer Aspire 5315-2153, $348 Walmart Special,Mandriva Linux 2008.1 Spring Edition

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avatarThat's where I draw the

Submitted by gatorXXX on Tue, 2008-07-22 13:38

That's where I draw the line....I'll get something decorative like say....duct tape and cover the camera.

ThE OnLy wAy 2 pLaY!

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