Monday, December 17, 2007

New billboard puts voices in your head

Well we have read about billboard that can track you, computer programs that can tell who you are even if you have a disguise on and we all know how insidious online marketing is in targeting specific product to you. Shaun has shown us a world where all this is just around the corner with his mallcity and infoscreens. Well as scary as that sounds, advertisers have stepped up and gone one better. There's a new add in Soho in Manhattan that uses a speaker beaming down an "audio spotlight" that only you can hear, making it sound like it's coming from inside your own head.
So it is now possible to not only aim an exact product at you, but as you move, it moves with you and now they can target sound for such an ad, just for you, beamed right AT you.

complete article

3 comments:

Dave Tackett said...

That is just plain evil. Looks like I'll be turning my MP3 players way up to bring on an early deafness.

Anonymous said...

Makes you wonder though if this weird extrapolation of freedom of speech extends to the common man. I suspect if you did exactly the same thing and went and beamed unwelcome messages into someone's head, you would be subject to all sorts of legal censure.

Anonymous said...

The forthcoming mallcity sequel - 'Return to Mallcity' - includes this technology. For eg, walking past an infopanel, billboard or vending machine, you can hear the sound of a soda can popping, or have specific consumer messages targeted to you "Jill, if you used Fabcream like Wendy, your face would look nice too" -and all this in the privacy of your own skull...what a wonderful world!!!

Hearing voices in your head? You may not be suffering from MAD (Market Adjustment Disorder), it may just be the nearest vending machne or infopanel!