Did You Know Retail Stores May Be Spying on You?

No longer are retailers using mannequins to display just their latest fashions!  According to a recent article advances in technology have moved many retailers to equip them with tiny cameras that allow them to spy on shoppers.  Not only are they doing this to catch criminals, but also are using the technology to learn more about people shopping in their store or simply walking by.

EyeSee is one of those technologies created by mannequin maker, Almax.  They embed cameras in the eyes of the mannequins which via a face recognition software gathers data such as age, gender, and race.  This data gives retailers useful information to go by when setting up store displays.  For example if retailers determine that women make up the majority of shoppers in the afternoon they are able to display more women’s clothing.  Almex is also testing the use of microphones to hear what a shopper says about what is has on.

How would you feel if you knew you were being looked at and profiled by retail store mannequins?