Facial Recognition & Directed Advertising Demo: IDF Beijing 2011

Intel put on a series of demo's at Day 0 of IDF Beijing 2011 showing off various ways that camera recognition, both facial and gesture, could be applied to everyday life.



The first demo controlled an avatar by mapping the human face to cause the avatar to animate on-screen characters to precisely replicate mimic facial expressions and head movement. The second demo has been making the rounds but we still love it since the idea of having in on our home TV excites since it would make looking at photo's a more interactive experience. One can control and navigate the user interface with the wave of a hand as well as zoom and rotate.

It is like having a Kinect, but all you need is a webcam! The big one that I thought was the best of the bunch was facial recognition to deliver directed personal advertising. That's right, your TV will watch you figure out how many males and females are in the room, whether they are young or old and even detect if they are happy or sad. Based on this information they will then service an appropriate targeted ad. Creepy, just a little.



The final demo takes that creep factor to the next level as your TV will identify you personally, and then it will suggest shows for you based on your viewing habits. The technology will continue to watch you to see if you are enjoying the program and even note if you are looking away from the screen.

The video demo was a little slow so we don't get much detail in the video above, but trust me when I say, I'd think twice about getting a TV that's going to watch me more then I watch it!