Technology

EyeSee store mannequins gather intelligence on shoppers

EyeSee store mannequins gather intelligence on shoppers
An EyeSee shopper-watching mannequin
An EyeSee shopper-watching mannequin
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An EyeSee shopper-watching mannequin
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An EyeSee shopper-watching mannequin
An EyeSee data screen
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An EyeSee data screen
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Do you ever get the creep feeling that store mannequins are ... watching you? Well, that feeling may now be justified. Italian display form company Almax has recently introduced its EyeSee line of mannequins, that are equipped with cameras and microprocessors in their heads.

The idea behind the mannequins is that they could be located in storefront windows or specific areas of the store, where they would gather demographic data on the customers. Using facial recognition software, they can reportedly determine things such as a person’s age range, gender and race. The mannequins will also keep track of the number of people to pass through a certain area within a given amount of time, and how much time each person spends there.

An EyeSee data screen
An EyeSee data screen

Almax suggests that store owners could then use that data to develop targeted marketing strategies, to place salespeople in the parts of the store with the highest traffic, to see what times of day are busiest (and with what sort of customers), and to gauge the effectiveness of window displays or the popularity of displayed items.

Needless to say, privacy concerns are definitely an issue. According to the company, all the data is processed within the mannequins, so no outside computers are involved, and nothing is transmitted. Nonetheless, that doesn’t change the fact that the mannequins would actually be watching you – and scrutinizing you.

The EyeSee mannequins were designed and are manufactured by Kee Square, a facial recognition tech company affiliated with Politecnico di Milano.

Source: Almax via Bloomberg

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4 comments
4 comments
Bob Fately
Nothing new here - with big cities putting cameras all over the place what's the big deal about the retailer doing the same thing?
I think it was Larry Ellison (founder and CEO of Oracle) who said some years back that privacy is dead.
He wasn't wrong.
Omen
Yup, the mannequin is watching and people do too, though usually without mercantile motives.
Mike MacMillan
We did this at Euroshop 2 years ago (exactly the same concept. It went on to be used by a few retailers but then the novelty wore off. We also used in retailers in displays. THere is no recording dome and the people are anonymized through programed masking if a video is ever accessed. Now we have an opt out function so you cant even appear in the video. My view overpriced so good luck to them.
Stephen N Russell
apps for:
Home security ( I like this mode). Store security ( after hours). & for marketing mode.
But hate to be scanned when I dont know it. Very scary.
Fine for Security & deter shoplifting alone.,