New adverts 'could track your eyes' in supermarkets

From the BBC.co.uk (April 30):

An advertising system which is able to track your eye movements while you shop has been created by researchers based at Lancaster University.

The Sideways project uses software to locate faces and eye movements of shoppers captured on camera.

It could allow for video screens which change adverts depending on what you look at in a shop.

The team told the BBC they hoped the technology would be in use in shops within five years.

The technology can also be used to allow people to use their eyes to control content on screens, such as scrolling through items on a list.

"The system uses a single ordinary camera that is placed close to the screen," explained senior researcher Andreas Bulling. "So we don't need any additional equipment.

"The system detects the faces of people walking by and calculates where the eyes are relative to the eye corners." [read more]

Interesting technology. Kind of creepy though. This technology is similar to the personalized advertising technology in the movie Minority Report. Is this an example of life imitating art?