So if Michael Jackson Walks In Front, Does The Thing Get Confused and Explode?

January 31, 2007 by Dave Haynes

A Seattle newspaper got a peek inside Microsoft’s advertising R&D lab recently, and reported on new technology that tries to use facial recognition to serve up ads according to gender.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports:

The system is intended for use with large video screens in public places, such as shopping malls. It’s one of the projects being pursued inside Microsoft’s adCenter Labs — part of the company’s effort to come from behind in online ads and other forms of digital marketing.

Microsoft says adCenter Labs has doubled in size during the past year, to more than 120 people, in Redmond and Beijing. Researchers and engineers from the group showed their latest work at an event Wednesday on the Microsoft campus.

“I really believe that the future of the entire advertising industry is sitting in this room,” said David Jakubowski, general manager of Microsoft’s overall adCenter advertising system.

Well, they have had their butt handed to them a few times with advertising ventures, but who knows. This in interesting stuff, though I expect I would run a budget on the cost of this and put up four comparably dumb screens instead.

This “gender-detection prototype” would also let people control objects on the screen using hand gestures. Like playing a game. Again, quite cool. But that means the number of eyeballs that see the screen drop like a rock.

I give this one a big “Hmmmmm.”

  1. Fastman says:

    “I really believe that the future of the entire advertising industry is sitting in this room,” said David Jakubowski, general manager of Microsoft’s overall adCenter advertising system.

    They must be smoking some good stuff in Redmond these days – a tad delusional

  2. Michael says:

    Don;t write MS off. They are not delusional if they have 120 people working on it.

  3. Fastman says:

    I never write Billy off – but they have a long way to go – saying the future of the entire advertising industry is sitting in their room is absurd …

    They still have not been able to compete with Google or even Yahoo/Overture in the on-line space. How much tome to they need? As an example the new release of adCentre which we waited a long tome for is very disapointing.
    Perhaps they have been a little consumed resource wise the past 5 years – so now that VISTA is out it will be interesting to see what happens next

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