Here's Looking at You, Kid

Personalized outdoor advertising (ala Minority Report) is essentially here. AdFreak shares that billboards will soon recognize when you are looking at them, thanks to a new device called the eyebox2. In theory, ads that don't generate feedback (in this case, stares) will be pulled and replaced by more effective ads. And while we're still a few embedded computer chips away from the billboard recognizing you individually, similar technology is already here.

And since 2002, marketers have been able to customize billboards in accord with your personal tastes. In San Francisco, ads could detect the radio station a car was playing and change oncoming billboards accordingly. If you were listening to a jazz station for example, it might advertise a chic wine shop up ahead. Enjoy country music? You might see an ad for a casino or race track at an exit down the road. Your preferences, your (presumed targeted) advertsising.

And who can forget the much lauded Mini Cooper campaign that used RFID tags embedded in the cars to signal special billboards who was passing them. The chips caused the outdoor ad to display a personlized message to the passing car. ComputerWorld offers details:

"The message might contain the driver's name, mention a special feature on the car such as its color or a unique roof rack, and deliver a customized greeting. The idea is to make a driver feel he is part of the Mini Cooper family, according to a spokesman for Mini USA, a division of BMW of North America LLC."

Combine all of that customization with the ability to determine which billboards garnered the most eyeball attention and you've opened up a new arena for outdoor advertising. Yes, it screams of Big Brother, but it definitely enriches this medium. The possible uses for this are almost endless, ranging from the incredible to the invasive.

One downside: that cop following you as you speed down the highway may know your name before he even has time to run your plates. But at least he'll also know you were playing classical music during the chase.