Billboard watches you shop

By JANE HAMILTON, Consumer Editor
posted March 10, 2010

RETAILERS are targeting individual shoppers with digital billboards like those in the hit Tom Cruise film Minority Report.

Cameras in the advert hoardings identify the age and sex of passers-by then display relevant products.

The makers claim images of faces are erased immediately but some consumers fear the billboards will capture their expressions and responses to the ads. The signs are being tried out in Japan. Digital advertising expert Omaid Hiwaizi, 40, from London agency Chemistry, said: "Companies will be watching closely to see if they do well. the rest